The proposal that emerged during the first Bush term was a taxpayer-funded giveaway to large mature energy companies and the energy company executives helped themselves. The energy bill contained a plethora of issues that Bush wanted to push through Congress. The shortcomings of his energy policy were so numerous that it is hard to know where to begin.
First, the overall cost of his proposal was just short of $50 Billion. Second, the vast majority of the money would have gone to large energy firms to offset their exploration costs that they would realize even without the federal funds. The reason these companies would have conducted this exploration is that without it, they cannot continue to maintain their profits. This huge proposed Federal expenditure did not increase our energy supply it merely improve the profit picture for the large energy companies who would receive this money.
The earlier energy legislation also contained regulatory changes to enable the country to upgrade the electric grid. It contained permission to drill in Alaska, which has been rejected for years. The bill provided increased access to Federal lands to further help the large energy producers find gas and oil. There were some provisions to develop alternate fuels, build a gas pipeline in Alaska, develop the use of clean coal and help build new nuclear plants. The bill also provided help for such things as hydrogen co-generation projects and a host of miscellaneous items.
Bottom line the first Bush energy plan was a $50 billion Christmas tree that would have produce very little new energy at a time when we are running a $675 billion annual deficit. The bill did not doing enough to develop alternate energy sources that would be under the control of the United States, and it did nothing to require increased efficiency of cars and SUVs.
For too long we have looked only at the supply side of the energy equation. The real solution to make the United States more energy independent is to increase the efficiency of our cars, SUVs and trucks. Approximately half of the oil is consumed in the internal combustion engine. An increase of one-mile per gallon would save more oil than could be found in the Alaskan wilderness. Rather than include both incentives and penalties to help increase the efficiency of our motor vehicles, the Bush policy favored the supply side. It seems that conservatives are fixated with supply. They insist it is the solution to our energy needs as well as the solution to our economic growth.
We should see how this new Energy Bill compares with the earlier bill that was not apporved by Congress!
NO ENERGY BILL SHOULD BECOME LAW WITHOUT A PROVISION FOR HIGHER MILEAGE FOR CARS, SUV"S AND TRUCKS!