Bush's Renewable Energy Plan Merely an Election Campaign

Emperor Bush wound up his sweeping three state, two day tour that he used to push his renewable energy plans. It would have almost have been believable except that the plan came from a Texas Oil-Barron, an ultra-conservative, a former oil company executive, and the signer of 6 years of budgets that cut renewable energy funding and pave the way for more oil use in the country.

This is another case of Bush's two-faced policies. He tells something the American people want to hear, and then go and do what American corporations want. Which is usually to the detriment to the American people. Here he's saying that he wants to push for renewable energy but his policies say otherwise.

Caren Bohan of Reuters writes:

President George W. Bush called on Tuesday for tapping renewable energy sources like wind and solar power to contend with surging energy costs but environmental groups questioned his commitment to easing U.S. oil dependence.

Bush also told employees at a key laboratory for renewable energy research that he regretted "mixed signals" that had led the Colorado facility to announce job cuts earlier this month because of budget cuts.

He visited the National Renewable Energy Laboratory a day after his administration rushed the transfer of $5 million to the lab to enable it to restore the jobs and resolve what could have been an embarrassing situation.

Here's a small fact: Bush's Budget would have laid off 32 employees from the laboratory because of a $28 million cut from it's budget. How did the GOP fix the PR problem? $5 million dollars. That doesn't sound like Bush is committed to renewable energy but is willing to make it look like he is.

How about his budget? It has nothing more than token increases and major cuts in other areas:

Although the proposed budget boosts funding for solar power by 77 percent to $148 million and doubles biomass research programs to $150 million, research and development funding for geothermal and hydropower has been eliminated. The FY07 budget request for research and development for wind‚—the fastest growing energy source in the country‚—is $44 million. This is a $930,000 (2 percent) cut from last year‚’s request.

The 2007 budget also proposes cutting almost two-thirds of the $23 million designated for renewable energy and energy efficiency programs in the 2002 Farm Bill (HR 2646, Sec.9006). This cut would be harmful to farmers, ranchers, and small rural businesses. These people rely upon grant and loan programs to support energy efficiency improvements and the purchase of renewable energy systems including wind, solar, biomass, and geothermal energy sources. At a time when America's rural communities are facing economic challenges, funding renewable energy and energy efficiency projects would help establish an additional income source for landowners, create jobs, and lower energy costs for rural consumers. The Bush administration also attempted to slash this program in the 2005 and 2006 budget proposals. In both cases, UCS worked with coalition partners to successfully restore full funding during the congressional appropriations process. We will push for full funding of the program again this year. From the Union of Concerned Scientists

Let's face it, if he really wanted a renewable energy policy, he would spend more than that. While a 77% increase is good it only raises it to $150 million in a $3 trillion budget.

While we applaud President Bush's call to reduce U.S. oil dependence, the proposed budget will do virtually nothing to reduce our reliance on foreign oil. There are no incentives in the proposed budget for improving the fuel economy of today's cars and trucks. This is the best way to reduce oil dependence over the next 20 years. The relatively small increase in research dollars for hybrid technology ($6.7 million according to the White House) is positive, but is paltry in comparison with the size of the problem the United States sends more than that overseas to pay for oil every 15 minutes.

From Reuters:

Dave Hamilton, an energy expert at the Sierra Club environmental group, said an energy bill Bush signed last August was a "missed opportunity" to have boosted alternative-fuels research funds further.

He said Bush's latest energy initiatives were "baby steps in the right direction." But he added, "The administration's larger actions have moved counter to the goals of reducing foreign oil dependence."

Addressing the issue of the jobs that had just been restored at the lab, Bush said, "I recognize that there has been some ... let me say, mixed signals when it comes to funding."

"Our mutual desire is to clear up any discrepancies in funding, and I think we've cleaned up those discrepancies," he added.

Yeah, now we know you are lying to us.

The Reuters article can be found here:
Bush's Renewable Energy Plan Merely an Election Campaign

The Union of Concerned Scientists article can be found here:
Bush Administration FY07 Budget —Highlights and Lowlights

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