KRT Campus Media
Call it retro-futuristic.
President Bush's energy policy draws on the past and looks to the future, but skips the present entirely.
In the State of the Union, the president called on Congress to pass his "comprehensive" energy package, which heavily subsidizes yesterday's technology -- coal, oil and nuclear power. At the same time, he unveiled needed investment in hydrogen fuel cells, the most promising technology for the 21st century.
Yet he offered nothing to reduce America's dependence on foreign oil right now. With war looming in Iraq, that's a colossal omission.
The United States imports 55 percent of its oil. By 2025, that will grow to 68 percent. Oil consumption entwines our country in the volatile politics of the Middle East and elsewhere. It fouls the air and degrades human health.
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Yes, America needs an Apollo-like project to find a new source of fuel. But Bush's proposed $1.2 billion investment in hydrogen research barely buys the launch pad. Even with greater investment, a marketable vehicle is 15 years away.
Nor will Bush's perennial suggestion of domestic drilling solve the problem. America doesn't have significant reserves, and what is here would take 10 years to get to market.
America needs a truly comprehensive policy that uses existing technology to improve energy efficiency now. It needs a plan for 2003, not one for 2020.
