Background: President Bush’s Energy Plan

KWAME HOLMAN:

President Bush began his day touting new energy technology at a plant in St. Paul, Minnesota, that generates power by burning coal, oil, or wood, depending on which is cheapest. He chose a local convention center filled with invited guests for the official unveiling of his energy plan and began by asserting the costs of inaction.

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH:

For two decades the share of the average family budget spent on energy steadily declined. But since 1998, it has skyrocketed by 25 percent. And that's a hardship for every American family. If we fail to act, Americans will face more and more widespread blackouts. If we fail to act, our country will become more reliant on foreign crude oil, putting our national energy security into the hands of foreign nations, some of whom who do not share our interests.

KWAME HOLMAN:

The president said conservation is the cornerstone of his plan.

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH:

We'll underwrite research and development into energy saving technology. It'll require manufacturers to build more energy efficient appliances. We will review and remove the obstacles that prevent business from investing in energy efficient technologies, like the combined heat and power system I toured this morning.

KWAME HOLMAN:

But the president also said a major goal is to increase energy production.

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH:

The second part of our energy plan will be to expand and diversify our nation's energy supplies. America today imports 52 percent of all our oil. If we don't take action, those imports will only grow. As long as cars and trucks run on gasoline, we will need oil, and we should produce more of it at home.

KWAME HOLMAN:

The president calls for burning more coal more cleanly, expanding nuclear power plant capacity and drilling for new oil in new places. That includes in the pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, or ANWR. That's now banned, but the president says it can be done safely.

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH:

In arctic sites like ANWR, we can build roads of ice that literally melt away when summer comes, and the drilling then stops to protect wildlife. ANWR can produce 600,000 barrels of oil a day for the next 40 years. What difference does 600,000 barrels a day make? Well, that happens to be exactly the amount we import from Saddam Hussein's Iraq. We're not just short of oil; we're short of the refineries that turn oil into fuel. So while the rest of our economy is functioning at 82 percent of capacity, our refineries are gasping at 96 percent of capacity.

KWAME HOLMAN:

The president also wants to enhance electricity transmission by requiring private property be sold to make way for power lines.

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH:

We have chopped our country into dozens of local electricity markets, which are haphazardly connected to one another. For example, a weak link in California's electrical grid makes it difficult to transfer power from the southern part of the state to the north, where the blackouts have been worse. Highways connect Miami with Seattle; phone lines link Los Angeles and New York. It is time to match our interstate highway and phone systems with an interstate electrical grid.

KWAME HOLMAN:

The Bush plan also would give new tax incentives for investing in alternative energy sources, such as wind power, solar energy, and new technologies to help cars run on non-fossil fuels. Mr. Bush concluded his speech with a message to his critics in the environmental community.

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH:

Too often, Americans are asked to take sides between energy production and environmental protection — as if people who revere the Alaska wilderness do not also care about America's energy future; as if the people who produce America's energy do not care about the planet their children will inherit. The truth is energy production and environmental protection are not competing priorities. They're dual aspects of a single purpose — to live well and wisely upon the earth. Just as we need a new tone in Washington, we also need a new tone in discussing energy in the environment, one that is less suspicious, less punitive, less rancorous. We've yelled at each other enough. Now it's time to listen to each other and act.

DEMONSTRATORS:

Dirty coal and dirty air — dirty coal and dirty air…

KWAME HOLMAN:

But the yelling already had begun outside the St. Paul Convention Center by people protesting the president's well-previewed announcement, and in Washington, major environmental groups also weighed in.

GENE KARPINSKI, U.S. Public Interest Research Group:

Our message today is clear: President Bush's energy plan is dirty, dangerous, and doesn't deliver for consumers. It's a recipe for more drilling, more spilling, more nuclear waste, more asthma attacks, and more global warming.

KWAME HOLMAN:

One environmental group even had this ad ready to go on the air.

SPOKESMAN:

Tell President Bush his energy plan is one we just can't afford.

KWAME HOLMAN:

At the Capitol, Congressional Democrats responded to the Bush plan by saying it fails to provide solutions for current energy problem.

SEN. MARIA CANTWELL, (D) Washington: The energy crisis is raging through the West like a forest fire headed out of control — rolling blackouts, escalating prices, failing businesses, and job loss. But the White House is ignoring the flames. And I'm not suggesting we sacrifice the long-term planning for short-term action. We need a balanced energy plan for the future that is diverse, that is well funded, but also we need solutions for today's crisis.

KWAME HOLMAN:

Democrats also offered an alternative plan. It would cap the price of wholesale electricity on the West Coast, keep open the option of tapping the nation's strategic petroleum reserve to provide any immediate increases in supply, tighten fuel economy standards for light trucks and sport utility vehicles, and give tax credits to producers and consumers of renewable energy. Democrats say the president's call for alternative fuels use isn't backed up in his budget proposal.

SEN. TOM HARKIN, (D) IOWA: The administration's budget this year slashes renewable energy research and development by more than a third and substantially cuts funding for energy efficiency technologies. They can say all the nice things they want, but take a look at their budget. Even worse, what little support the administration's putting in renewables, they hold it hostage to drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

KWAME HOLMAN:

Democrats also claim the White House is not serious about conserving energy, noting that last month Vice President Cheney called conservation "a personal virtue" but not a solution to the nation's energy problems. But today Congressional Republicans said their party does take conservation seriously.

REP. BILLY TAUZIN, (R) LOUISIANA: Interestingly enough, my own state energy department, when asked to send recommendations in to Vice President Cheney, listed conservation as its first recommendation, and it would be, I think, the first package we will begin working on.

KWAME HOLMAN:

Republicans plan quick action on the president's plan, hoping to pass it out of the Senate by July 4th.