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Feb 20 - Detroit Free Press By Justin Hyde and Kathleen Gray
Bush is set to visit United Solar Ovonic, which develops solar panels as a subsidiary of Rochester Hills-based Energy Conversion Devices Inc. On Tuesday, Bush plans to visit the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo., and take part in a discussion on energy conservation and efficiency. With the prices of heating homes and fueling cars still sharply higher than a year earlier, Bush has been eager to promote his administration's efforts to find new sources of energy. "We will pursue promising technologies that will transform how we power our vehicles, businesses and homes -- so we can reduce our nation's dependence on foreign sources of energy," Bush said Saturday in his weekly radio address. Although the president's 2007 budget proposal includes increases for research on solar, nuclear, hydrogen and wind power, it also includes cuts for research in other areas, such as improving the fuel efficiency of cars and trucks. The proposed increase for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Fuels is 0.2% -- $2.6 million over the previous year's $1.2-billion total. And the energy lab Bush will visit Tuesday laid off 32 people, including eight researchers, this month because of a $28-million shortfall in this year's budget. Lab officials said the layoffs came because Congress directed money toward energy research labs in other states. Bill Prindle, policy director for the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, a nonprofit research center, said the administration's budget focuses on long-term research at the expense of short-term projects that might have a greater impact on energy costs. "The administration appears to be shifting money around, but it's not really moving the ball forward," he said. "To really transform the American energy economy, you have to be spending several billion dollars a year for a sustained period to really accelerate research, development and deployment." Congressional Democrats called Bush's proposals little comfort to people who are paying dramatically higher prices for gas and heat. "Unfortunately, while he's talking the talk about solutions, he's not walking the walk by including adequate funding for these initiatives in the budget he presented," said U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Menominee. "Maybe a walk in Michigan's freezing conditions will help put into perspective the fact that Michigan families are paying record-high home energy costs and struggling to make ends meet." An initial analysis of the energy budget by Democrats on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce shows that the amounts Bush suggested are actually $300 million less than those authorized in the energy bill Congress passed last year. It also notes that low-interest home energy assistance loans for residential weatherization projects have been cut by $78 million, and that the home heating assistance program for low-income residents is funded at a level much lower than called for in the energy bill Congress passed. The Public Interest Research Group in Michigan said the president's proposals take baby steps forward on advancing renewable energy initiatives. But in an analysis, the group found that the budget continues to fund "old, expensive, dirty technology at the expense of faster, cheaper, cleaner methods," said spokesman Jason Barbose. U.S. Rep. Vern Ehlers, R-Grand Rapids, said he's delighted that Bush has focused on renewable energy sources. "We need reasonable sources of energy, especially for the transportation industry," he said. "What he has proposed is desperately needed." The proposal includes: * $289 million for hydrogen vehicle and fuel technology, a $56-million increase from this year's budget, with a goal of making hydrogen vehicles available to consumers by 2020. * $150 million for biomass and biofuels research, up $59 million. This includes research to boost ethanol production toward a target of replacing 30% of current gasoline demand by 2030. * $148 million for solar energy research, $65 million more than last year. The administration says it wants solar power to generate enough electricity for 1 million to 2 million homes by 2015. * $250 million for a new program, the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, aimed at encouraging nuclear power. To offset those increases, the president's budget includes cuts elsewhere. It calls for vehicle technology research at the Department of Energy to be cut $16 million, to $166 million. More of the remaining funds would be spent researching plug-in hybrid vehicles, for which automakers have shown little enthusiasm. Contact JUSTIN HYDE at 202-906-8204 or jhyde@freepress.com. photo George W. Bush will visit an Auburn Hills plant today. President Bush's energy proposals Subject to congressional approval * $281 million for development of clean coal technologies. * $54 million to develop emission-free coal plants. * $148 million for development of better solar panels to convert sunlight to electricity. * $44 million for wind energy research. * $150 million to help develop bio-based transportation fuels from agricultural waste products, such as wood chips, stalks and switch grass. * $30 million to develop improved vehicle battery technology to extend the range of hybrid vehicles. * $289 million for development of hydrogen fuel cells and affordable hydrogen-powered cars. What's been cut * $28 million from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado. ----- Copyright (c) 2006, Detroit Free Press Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. |