Bodman optimistic Congress will back parts of Bush energy plans

Washington (Platts)--2Mar2006

US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman Thursday said he is optimistic the Bush
administration will win approval from Congress for elements of two major
proposals to reduce the US reliance on oil. 

     "We're getting ourselves geared up to convert this rhetoric into action
and into specific plans," Bodman said in an interview with Platts. "We're
hopeful, and that's all I can tell you...But I'm optimistic that we'll have
our fair share of success in some of these areas."

     The Advanced Energy Initiative, which President Bush announced in his
State of the Union address in February, calls for $381 million in additional
funding at the Department of Energy in fisal year 2007 to promote expanded use
of coal, nuclear energy and renewable energy. Bush's Advanced Science
Initiative, also unveiled in the speech, would add more than $500 million to
DOE's science programs next fiscal year and double federal spending on federal
science programs over 10 years.

     "We have a serious opportunity to change the way we run our economy,"
Bodman said. "We can change the way we power our homes and change the way we
fuel our transportation. That's the goal."

     With Congress gearing up this week to consider Bush's budget proposal,
Bodman said the administration will continue to resist proposals to set
mandates for reductions in US oil consumption, as some lawmakers suggest. 

     "I don't think that's productive," he said of such directives. "If such
codification is going to lead to a lot of mandates being forced on the
economy, I think that's a problem...Any time you start tinkering around with
the economic system, the doctrine of unintended consequences comes into play.
I believe that with a real effort and a real focus on these areas where big
increases [in energy technologies] have been made, we have a very good chance
of making major changes in the system and avoiding major disruptions in our
economy. So, that's what we're about."

                      ---Bill Loveless, bill_loveless@platts.com

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