U.S. budget boosts coal and nuclear
power
from the February 07, 2008 edition -
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0207/p12s01-wogi.html
U.S. budget boosts coal and nuclear power
Bush's budget request Monday cut funding for renewable energy,
but increased spending for science.
By Brad Knickerbocker
A president's priorities become clearer at budget time, even if
Congress eventually rearranges things entirely. And that's true about
the place of energy and climate change in President Bush's spending
plan for next year.
Coal and nuclear power see big boosts in the 2009 Energy
Department budget request sent to Congress Monday, and Mr. Bush is
again calling for oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
The budget favors nuclear and "clean coal" options over
renewable power sources, McClatchy Newspapers noted.
"President Bush proposed large increases for nuclear
energy and for capturing and storing carbon from coal-burning power
plants in his 2009 budget requests for funding to combat climate
change. At the same time, though, his budget would cut money for solar
energy research and would provide only a small increase for other
renewable-energy programs."
Clean-energy advocates might wince at the emphasis on coal, oil,
and nuclear power. But a big chunk of the energy budget proposal is
for finding ways to reduce coal's greenhouse-gas emissions. Reuters
reports:
"Capturing carbon emissions from coal plants and
socking them away in underground reservoirs was at the top of the
[Energy] department's 2009 priority list. Carbon sequestration
research received $400 million in funds, along with $241 million for
demonstration projects."
The president also increased spending for earth-monitoring
satellites, which are important for collecting information about
global warming, including data on things like soil moisture content
and ice packs.
The budget boost comes after several years of cuts in funding that the
National Academy of Sciences had warned would make the US unprepared
for "collecting vital information about global warming ."
National Aeronautics and Space Administration sciences chief Alan
Stern told the Associated Press:
"Think of NASA's blue logo as turning a little bit greener. We
are amping up our emphasis on Earth sciences."
Green energy programs - conservation and renewables - fared
less well in Bush's budget proposal, points out an online story from
National Public Radio.
"Despite the president's more aggressive statements
on fighting climate change, his budget request would reduce funding
for energy efficiency and renewable energy - such as wind, solar,
etc. The president gets much of that reduction by slashing funding -
from $280 million to $60 million - for low-income households to
'weatherize' their homes with new windows, better insulation, and
other efforts."
Many congressional Democrats, as well as community activists, are
not happy.
Said David Bradley, executive director of the National Community
Action Foundation, an advocate for programs serving low-income
Americans, in a press release:
"In the face of rising energy costs, it is absurd
that the President would propose to reduce help for the poorest energy
consumers and to do less to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse
emissions of low-income households."
Other critics point out the difference between the president's
recent State of the Union message and what he's willing to spend. Said
Kateri Callahan, president of the Alliance to Save Energy, in a press
release:
"The president called for continued US leadership in
developing energy-efficiency technologies and in using energy
efficiency to help reduce greenhouse gases, Yet [Bush's] budget
request confounds the president's own rhetoric by reducing funding for
key energy-efficiency and research and development
programs...."
In an election year, it's not surprising that members of Congress
are pushing local and regional issues - corn-based ethanol in the
Midwest, oil and gas in the Rocky Mountain states - in federal
spending plans to be crafted on Capitol Hill.
Democrats also want tax breaks for green energy as part of an
economic stimulus package, reports the Los Angeles Times :
"As Senate Democrats push ahead with legislation to
blunt a possible recession, they are trying to get support for tax
breaks for wind-farm developers, builders of more efficient
appliances, and businesses that install fuel cells. It is unclear
whether there is sufficient GOP support to make the incentives part of
a stimulus package.... But the proposed benefits for green energy mark
another advance for an industry that is becoming one of the darlings
of Democratic-controlled Capitol Hill."
The administration's budget request also cuts $202 million for
public transportation and transfers about $3.2 billion in public
transit money to highway projects. Says William Millar, president of
the American Public Transportation Association, in a press
release:
"The Administration proposal would reduce the balance
in the Mass Transit Account to the point where, absent new funding,
the federal transit program could not be funded in 2010 at even the
current level."
On one thing everybody agrees: Production of federal budget
documents this year - four hefty volumes totaling more than 2,000
pages - gives a break to carbon-absorbing forests. The Wall Street
Journal reports.
"In years past, the White House's Office of
Management and Budget distributed about 3,000 copies of the budget
free to media outlets, congressional offices, and elsewhere in the
capital. This year, those folks must buy a printed copy or access one
free online. The change is expected to drive down demand for hard
copies of the budget, sparing an estimated 20 tons of paper, or 480
trees...."
