He tries to become green? or is he a flip-flopper?

In Auburn Hills, Mich., Mr. Bush toured United Solar Ovonic, a maker of 
solar panels. "The ultimate goal is to have solar technology on your home, 
and that home will become a little power-generating unit unto itself," Mr. 
Bush told reporters afterward.

!!!! A friend of mine build a house exactly like that, 5 years ago.
Oh George, what years is it? 1506?


Bush Blames Cuts at Energy Lab on Mix-Up 

President Bush on Tuesday acknowledged that Washington has sent "mixed 
signals" to one of the nation's premiere labs studying renewable energies — 
by first laying off, then reinstating, 32 workers just before his visit. 

The president blamed the conflicting message on an appropriations mix-up in 
funding the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory, which 
is developing the very renewable energy technologies the president is 
promoting.

"I recognize that there has been some interesting — let me say — mixed 
signals when it comes to funding," Bush said. "The issue, of course, is 
whether good intentions are met with actual dollars spent.

"Part of the issue we face, unfortunately, is that sometimes decisions made 
as the result of the appropriations process, may not end going to where it 
was supposed to have gone.

"We want you to know how important your work is," he said. "We appreciate 
what you're doing."

Two weeks ago, 32 workers, including eight researchers, were laid off at 
the lab.

Then, over the weekend, just before Bush's planned visit, the government 
restored the jobs.

His trip to the renewable energy laboratory is part of a two-day, three-
state trip to promote the energy proposals Bush outlined in his State of 
the Union address.

At the direction of Energy Secretary 
Samuel Bodman, $5 million was transferred to the Midwest Research 
Institute, the operating contractor for the lab, to get the workers back on 
the job, the Energy Department announced Monday.

Philip Clapp, president of the National Environmental Trust, said the 
decision restores only $5 million of the $28 million budget shortfall at 
the lab that forced the layoffs.

"The $5 million stopped the bodies from going out the door, but it doesn't 
provide the money for the (renewable energy) programs," Clapp said.

At the lab, where Bush was holding a panel discussion of his energy 
initiatives, the president saw tanks where agricultural waste is fermented 
into ethanol. He was shown samples of polar, switchgrass and corn stalks — 
material the lab is studying in hopes of developing a cost-effective way to 
use it to make ethanol.

"You're doing great work here," said Bush, who picked up a bottle of clear-
colored ethanol and smelled it.

The president has proposed a 22 percent increase in funding for clean-
energy technology research at the Energy Department. He wants to change the 
way the nation fuels its vehicles and powers homes and businesses by 
focusing on nuclear, solar and wind power as well as better batteries to 
power hybrid-electric autos.

In 1985, three-quarters of the crude oil used in U.S. refineries came from 
America, Bush said Monday at a stop in Milwaukee at Johnson Controls, which 
is developing advanced batteries for hybrid-electric autos. Today, less 
than half the crude oil used in U.S. refineries is produced in America, 
while 60 percent comes from foreign countries, he said.

"Some of the nations we rely on for oil have unstable governments, or 
fundamental differences with the United States," Bush said. "These 
countries know we need their oil and that reduces influence. It creates a 
national security issue when we're held hostage for energy by foreign 
nations that may not like us."

Lab employee Tina Larney said that even though the jobs are being 
reinstated, she still questions the government's resolve in finding 
alternative energy sources.

"There is technology available now, there is the know-how now," Larney 
said. "What is lacking is leadership on the large scale at the national 
level." 

The White House says Bush is providing that leadership. They say he wants 
to invest more in zero-emission, coal-fired plants, as well as support 
solar and wind research, promote cars that run on hydrogen, encourage more 
nuclear power plant construction and fund work to produce ethanol — not 
just from corn, but from wood chips and switch grass. 

Critics of the Bush administration are skeptical of Bush's energy 
proposals. 

Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colo., co-chairman of the House Renewable Energy and 
Energy Efficiency Caucus, said the government has funded only one-third of 
the money the 2005 energy bill authorized for renewable energy and energy 
efficiency. 

Clapp claims the president is promoting renewables because polls show his 
job approval numbers are being weighed down by Americans' concerns about 
high utility bills this winter and the cost of gasoline at the pump. 

___ 

 Article 9 of 13 in National


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In Visits to 3 States, Bush Pushes Alternative Energy 

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By ELISABETH BUMILLER
Published: February 21, 2006
ENGLEWOOD, Colo., Feb. 20 — President Bush on Monday promoted his plan to 
reduce American dependence on foreign oil by using alternative energy 
sources, but he did not repeat a promise to cut back on Middle East oil 
imports that drew complaints from the Organization of the Petroleum 
Exporting Countries and was disavowed by his energy secretary.

Instead, on a day when oil prices rose to more than $60 a barrel because of 
militant attacks on oil suppliers in the Niger Delta, Mr. Bush toned down 
his implicit criticism of countries in the Persian Gulf and spoke of 
American reliance on foreign oil in more general terms.

"Some of the nations we rely on for oil have unstable governments, or 
fundamental differences with the United States," Mr. Bush said in a speech 
in Milwaukee, his first stop of the day. "These countries know we need 
their oil, and that reduces influence. It creates a national security issue 
when we're held hostage for energy by foreign nations that may not like us."

As alternatives to oil, Mr. Bush promoted battery-powered cars at the stop 
in Wisconsin and solar power at a later stop in Michigan. He ended the day 
in Colorado, where some three dozen workers at the federal National 
Renewable Energy Laboratory were rehired after being laid off soon after 
Mr. Bush's State of the Union address promoting renewable energy.

A statement released Monday by the Energy Department said that Samuel W. 
Bodman, the energy secretary, ordered the transfer of $5 million over the 
weekend to immediately restore the jobs, which had been eliminated because 
of past budget cuts, thereby avoiding a political embarrassment for the 
president. Mr. Bush is to visit the laboratory, in Golden, Colo., on 
Tuesday morning.

The programs at the energy laboratory, Mr. Bodman said in a statement, "are 
critically important to realizing the president's vision to diversify and 
strengthen our nation's energy mix."

Both Republicans and Democrats commend Mr. Bush for endorsing alternative 
sources of energy, but Republicans question the practicality of relying on 
them and Democrats say that a more significant way of reducing reliance on 
foreign oil is imposing higher fuel-efficiency standards on cars, which Mr. 
Bush opposes.

Mr. Bush's trip to promote his energy proposals, first put forth in his 
State of the Union address on Jan. 31, dovetailed with his campaign 
travels. Wisconsin, Michigan and Colorado have races important to the White 
House this year, but of particular concern is Colorado, where a recent poll 
shows a Republican candidate for governor, Representative Bob Beauprez, 
trailing Bill Ritter, a Democrat and former Denver district attorney.

Although Mr. Bush did no overt politicking in the three states, the view of 
the White House is that his appearances are helpful to Republican 
candidates because they motivate the party's most faithful supporters.

In Milwaukee, Mr. Bush toured a technology center of Johnson Controls, the 
world's largest supplier of standard car batteries and a leader in research 
into new lithium ion batteries for hybrid cars. Afterward, in a speech to 
Johnson Controls employees, Mr. Bush urged Congress to support an 
additional $31 million for research into the new batteries, as called for 
in his 2007 budget. 

Lithium ion batteries are smaller and more efficient than the current 
nickel metal hydride batteries used in hybrid cars, although they are still 
years away from widespread use.

"You've got your car, you pull in, you plug it right into the wall," Mr. 
Bush said, adding that he anticipated a day when cars with lithium ion 
batteries could go 40 miles on electricity alone. Current hybrid cars use 
the gasoline engine to charge the onboard battery.


Mr. Bush proposed in his State of the Union address that the United States 
replace 75 percent of oil imports from the Middle East with alternative 
sources of energy by 2025. The next day, Mr. Bodman said that the president 
should not be taken literally and that the Middle East goal was "merely an 
example" of what might be done.

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