It’s cool to conserve.

That’s the message the Bush administration is attempting to spread across the country with its new public service campaign, “Energy Hog.” The new campaign arrives as Americans continue to take a one-two punch at the pumps, caused primarily by hurricane threats in the refinery-rich Gulf Region and skyrocketing crude oil prices.

“Energy Hog,” launched by the Department of Energy, will feature radio, television and Internet ads reminding people to reduce their energy usage and watch for wasted energy sources, according to a press release.

An accompanying Web site, www.energyhog.org, which is aimed at children ages eight to 13, contains games and activities that teach in-home conservation and encourage kids to remind their parents to watch their energy use.

The highlight of the campaign is Energy Hog himself – a cartoon villain pig dressed in blue jeans and a leather jacket – who flagrantly wastes energy.

Despite being much maligned by critics for lackluster conservational efforts, Bush also spoke publicly last week, asking the public to avoid non-essential motor vehicle travel and use carpooling. He has also ordered the White House to lead by example, requiring computers and photo copiers to be turned off at night and air conditioning set at a warmer temperature, British newspaper The Guardian reported.

However, many conservation groups have said the program will do little to actually help conserve energy, and believe it to be a last-ditch effort by the Bush camp to help bolster sagging public opinion polls.

“The bottom line is, it’s not going to help consumers in the short or the long term,” Navin Nayak, an energy advocate at the Washington office of Environment California, told the San Francisco Chronicle. “None of these solutions is going to provide consumers with relief, so they’re not going to provide him political relief.”