State of Union Energy Proposal Draws Mixed Reaction

State of Union Energy Proposal Draws Mixed Reaction





    
 
January 2007  - In his State of the 
Union speech to a joint session of Congress tonight, President 
George W. Bush made it clear he is concerned about disruptions 
to the American energy supply. 
"For too long our nation has been dependent on foreign oil. 
And this dependence leaves us more vulnerable to hostile 
regimes, and to terrorists - who could cause huge disruptions 
of oil shipments, and raise the price of oil, and do great 
harm to our economy," the President warned. 
President Bush's response to this danger is a greater emphasis 
on energy conservation and alternative fuels as well as more 
domestic oil production and a request to Congress to double 
the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. 
President George W. Bush addresses a joint session of 
Congress. Behind him stand Vice President Dick Cheney and 
Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi. (Photo 
by David Bohrer courtesy The White House) 
The President said he wants the United States to cut gasoline 
usage by 20 percent in the next 10 years to reduce the 
country's dependence on foreign oil. 
To reach this goal, Bush proposed raising the national 
renewable fuel standard. "We must increase the supply of 
alternative fuels, by setting a mandatory fuels standard to 
require 35 billion gallons of renewable and alternative fuels 
in 2017," the President said, "and that is nearly five times 
the current target." 
Under the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the national Renewable 
Fuel Standard Program will increase the volume of renewable 
fuel required to be blended into gasoline, starting with four 
billion gallons in 2006 and rising to 7.5 billion gallons by 
2012. 
"At the same time," President Bush said tonight, "we need to 
reform and modernize fuel economy standards for cars the way 
we did for light trucks - and conserve up to 8.5 billion more 
gallons of gasoline by 2017." 
"It's in our vital interest to diversify America's energy 
supply - the way forward is through technology," he said. 
He advocated "greater use of clean coal technology, solar and 
wind energy, and clean, safe nuclear power," as well as 
battery research for plug-in and hybrid vehicles, clean diesel 
vehicles and biodiesel fuel. 
"We must continue investing in new methods of producing 
ethanol, using everything from wood chips to grasses, to 
agricultural wastes," said Bush referring to the effort to 
make ethanol from non-food plant materials, known as 
cellulosic ethanol. 
President Bush makes a point during his State of the Union 
address. (Photo by Eric Draper courtesy The White House) 
Together with his emphasis on alternative fuels, the President 
said the country "must step up domestic oil production in 
environmentally sensitive ways." 
"America is on the verge of technological breakthroughs that 
will enable us to live our lives less dependent on oil," said 
Bush. "And these technologies will help us be better stewards 
of the environment, and they will help us to confront the 
serious challenge of global climate change." 
With these words Bush acknowledged that climate change is an 
important issue, but he disappointed environmentalists and 
others by failing to address the problem with a plan to curb 
the greenhouse gas emissions responsible for raising the 
global temperature. 
Yesterday, the heads of 10 large corporations and four 
environmental groups urged national legislation to limit 
emissions of the primary greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide. 
Eileen Claussen, president of the Pew Center on Global Climate 
Change, is one of the 14 corporate and environmental CEOs who 
called on Congress to enact mandatory caps on greenhouse gas 
emissions. She expressed disappointment with the State of the 
Union address. 
"Across the United States, scientists, CEOs, environment 
groups, state governments, and members of Congress, are 
seeking a comprehensive approach to global climate change and 
what the President is proposing is really only a very small 
step in that direction; his plan only affects the 
transportation sector, which accounts for roughly one-third of 
US greenhouse gas emissions; and it is unclear how real this 
commitment is," said Claussen. 
"If we hope to deal with climate change in a reasonable 
manner, we need an approach that is both economy-wide and 
mandatory, and that will put us on a path toward significant 
greenhouse gas reductions," she said. 
Rush hour in New York City (Photo by Ian Britton courtesy 
FreeFoto) 
Greenpeace USA Executive Director John Passacantando said, 
"Instead of creating a real national plan to combat global 
warming and increase energy security, the President has 
ensured his legacy of failure while continuing to represent 
the interests of the energy industry." 
"Today, the President proposed an alternative fuels proposal 
that could actually increase global warming pollution along 
with a fuel efficiency program for automobiles that lacks any 
real targets," Passacantando said. 
Carter Roberts, president and CEO of World Wildlife Fund, 
said, "Tonight the President took a long overdue step toward 
acknowledging global warming as a significant threat to the 
nation. Fuel efficiency and alternative fuels have to be 
considered as part of a larger solution, but the measures 
outlined this evening fall far short of what the majority of 
Americans, a growing number of states, and an increasing 
number of CEOs are demanding - a comprehensive approach that 
includes a mandatory cap of emissions across sectors. 
Philip Clapp, president of the National Environmental Trust 
said Bush's advocacy of fuel economy standards rings hollow. 
"The President has had all the authority he needs to increase 
fuel economy standards since the day he took office, and he 
has refused to act," said Clapp. "His request for new 
legislation letting him set standards basically model-by-model 
is something Detroit has pushed for years - as a way to poke 
more loopholes in the current weak standards." 
But David Friedman, research director of the Union of 
Concerned Scientists, UCS, was more positive regarding a 
possible fuel economy requirement. 
"This could be the breakthrough we have been waiting for on 
fuel economy," Friedman said. "The President joins leaders in 
Congress calling for increasing the gas mileage of cars, SUVs, 
minivans and pickup trucks to 34 mpg by 2017. This is the 
equivalent of a four percent improvement per year." 
"According to UCS research, if this fuel economy goal is 
required by law, it would save 550,000 barrels of oil per day 
in 2017, more than we currently import from Iraq. The increase 
would also cut global warming pollution by 95 million metric 
tons of carbon dioxide in that same year. This is equivalent 
to taking 14 million of today's cars and trucks off the road," 
Friedman said. 
Senator Jim Webb of Virginia gave the Democrats' response to 
the President's State of the Union address. 
Senator Jim Webb of Virginia (Photo courtesy Office of the 
Senator) 
"This is the seventh time the President has mentioned energy 
independence in his state of the union message, but for the 
first time this exchange is taking place in a Congress led by 
the Democratic Party," said Webb. 
"We are looking for affirmative solutions that will strengthen 
our nation by freeing us from our dependence on foreign oil, 
and spurring a wave of entrepreneurial growth in the form of 
alternate energy programs," said Webb. 
Earlier today, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House 
Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in advance of the State of the Union 
address that they are already at work on a national energy 
policy based on renewable and alternative fuels. 
"President Bush's goals for energy independence are 
commendable, but we now must get straight to work on a real 
national energy policy," said Reid and Pelosi. "In Congress, 
we have already begun work in earnest on renewable fuels, on 
global warming, and on shifting energy tax incentives away 
from Big Oil. We ask the President to join us to take real 
steps forward." 
Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said 
tonight that Bush's 2007 budget spent more on tax breaks for 
big oil than on renewable energy. 
"President Bush's 2007 budget provided paltry amounts of money 
for alternative and renewable energy, far less than the $2 
billion the oil and gas industry received in 2007 tax breaks. 
This is on top of flat funding for energy efficiency and 
renewable energy research and development," said Dean. 
Members of both houses of Congress, the Cabinet and the 
Supreme Court listened to the President's State of the Union 
address. (Photo by Shealah Craighead courtesy The White House) 

Republican environmentalists were critical of the President's 
proposals. 
"While the President's support for improved fuel economy and 
expanded biofuels development is welcome, his proposals, 
unfortunately, fail to match the scale of the problems that we 
face," said Government Affairs Director David Jenkins for 
Republicans for Environmental Protection, REP, a national 
grassroots organization. 
"We cannot afford to settle for reducing oil consumption two 
million barrels per day 10 years from now. We must aim for 
continuing and larger reductions through aggressive policies 
to improve fuel efficiency and to replace gasoline with 
home-grown fuels that can be produced and used cleanly," said 
REP Policy Director Jim DiPeso. REP favors plug-in hybrids, 
higher fuel economy standards, and expanding production of 
biofuels from farm waste and other non-food sources. 
"Conservatism imposes a moral obligation on the present 
generation to restrain wasteful consumption, treat the world 
with reverence, and protect the inheritance of future 
generations," said Jenkins. Real conservatives have a duty to 
reduce emissions that cause global warming." 
Still, renewable energy producers took heart from the 
President's support of their industry. 
The commercial production of cellulosic ethanol, made from 
non-food plant materials, got a boost after the President's 
state of the union address increasing the emphasis on domestic 
renewable fuels production. 
Flambeau River Biorefinery, LLC of Wisconsin announced tonight 
that it will provide project management and engineering 
services for the first modern U.S. pulp mill biorefinery to 
produce cellulosic ethanol. 
The new biorefinery will be constructed adjacent to the 
Flambeau River Papers facility in Park Falls, Wisconsin. 
It will be designed to produce 20 million gallons of 
cellulosic ethanol per year from spent pulping liquor. The 
technology selected for this biorefinery is a patent pending 
process technology of American Process Inc. It enables 
production of ethanol without putting additional pressure on 
forests and without fossil fuel consumption. 
Wind power generating capacity increased by 27 percent in 2006 
and is expected to increase an additional 26 percent in 2007, 
proving wind is now a mainstream option for new power 
generation, according to a market forecast released today by 
the American Wind Energy Association, AWEA. 
The association, an industry trade group, is seeking a five 
year extension to the federal production tax credit that now 
ends in December 2008. 
Bipartisan legislation was introduced in the House last week 
to extend solar energy investment tax credits for homeowners 
and businesses through 2016. The credits are currently set to 
expire next year.