Bush on energy...

From here:

By DEB RIECHMANN

MILWAUKEE (AP) - Saying the nation is on the verge of technological breakthroughs that would "startle" most Americans, President Bush on Monday outlined his energy proposals to help wean the country off foreign oil.

Less than half the crude oil used by refineries is produced in the United States, while 60 percent comes from foreign nations, Bush said during the first stop on a two-day trip to talk about energy.

Some of these foreign suppliers have "unstable" governments that have fundamental differences with America, he said.

"It creates a national security issue and we're held hostage for energy by foreign nations that may not like us," Bush said.

Bush is focusing on energy at a time when Americans are paying high power bills to heat their homes this winter and have only recently seen a decrease in gasoline prices.

Of course, the loyal opposition weighs in with their usual socialist rhetoric:

Energy conservation groups and environmentalists say they're pleased that the president, a former oil man in Texas, is stressing alternative sources of energy, but they contend his proposals don't go far enough. They say the administration must consider greater fuel-efficiency standards for cars, and some economists believe it's best to increase the gas tax to force consumers to change their driving habits. (emphases added)

They may actually be partly correct. While I don't have any problem with looking into future alternative energy sources--indeed I definitely find merit in same; Bush is not going far enough in term of ensuring that our current energy needs are met. While working toward future alternative energy sources is laudable, current exploration and extraction of available domestic resources needs to take place so as to ensure that we will have enough reasonably-priced supplies of energy that will carry us through until alternative energy sources can be brought online. To ignore current energy needs can only spell catastrophic, irreversible damage on an economy whose continuing competitive edge depends on readily available energy resources. If we continue to allow prohibitively expensive energy to rule the day in the near-future, we may not have much of an economy to salvage once those alternatives finally do come online, and other energy-independent nations will necessarily leave us in their economic dust.


(Filed under energy madness, enviro-whackism)