The energy and climate initiatives announced in U.S. President George W. Bush’s State of the Union address on Tuesday left the White House well behind the growing public and business momentum for an overhaul of U.S. energy policy. The proposals lacked both the breadth and the specificity needed to cope with the twin problems of energy security and global warming, and leaves national leadership on the issue up to Congress.
The centerpiece of the president’s energy proposal is the dramatic and laudable goal of cutting gasoline consumption by 20 percent within a decade, but the mix of policies and technologies he would use to get us there isn’t clear. The president’s support for accelerated development
of renewable fuels and improved fuel economy is headed in the right direction, but fuel economy still appears to be getting the short end of the stick in administration priorities. The U.S. Congress will need to pass strong new fuel economy and renewable fuel mandates if the
president’s goals for increased energy independence are to avoid the fate of similar proposals by at least five previous presidents.