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A Daily Chronicle of Bush Administration Distortion November 20, 2003
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"Clean Coal" Trumps Energy Efficiency in Bush-Supported Energy Plan



President Bush unveiled his energy plan in May 2001, vowing to "make this country the world's leader in energy efficiency and conservation in the 21st century."1 But the energy bill under final consideration by the Senate and supported by the President devotes less than ten percent of the $25.7 billion in tax breaks to energy efficiency.2

The president acknowledged that money would be required to achieve the goal of increased conservation saying, "Conservation on a wide scale takes more than good ideas; it takes capital investment."3 But the bill allocates only $1.5 billion over ten years in new energy efficiency spending, $300 million less than for "clean coal" technology, considered by environmentalists to be an oxymoron.4

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said of the bill, "Not only did we call for increased exploration and production at home, in an environmentally sensitive way, we called for expanding energy efficiency and for expanding conservation efforts. It was a very comprehensive plan."5

The bill is comprehensive, coming in at 1,700 pages. But around $14.5 billion of the tax breaks, about 62%, go to fossil fuels and nuclear power subsidies.6

The bill also does not include the repeal, within the Senate version, of a $100,000 tax deduction for heavy equipment, passed in President Bush's 2002 tax cut. The tax loophole was designed for farmers and small businesses to deduct the cost of their equipment, but has instead been used for the purchase of heavy sport utility vehicles like the Hummer H2.7

The energy bill is moving to passage as China announced on Monday its intent to impose minimum fuel economy standards on new cars for the first time, citing energy security as the primary reason for doing so. The New York Times reported that the rules being drafted call for new vehicles to get as many as five miles more per gallon of fuel than the average required in the United States by 2008.8

Sources:
  1. Presidential Speech, 5/17/01.
  2. "Size of Proposed Tax Breaks in Energy Bill Startles Experts," New York Times, 11/19/03.
  3. Presidential Speech, 5/17/01.
  4. "Energy bill has $23 billion in tax breaks, mostly for energy companies," Associated Press, 11/17/03.
  5. Press Briefing, 11/14/03.
  6. "Energy bill has $23 billion in tax breaks, mostly for energy companies," Associated Press, 11/17/03.
  7. "Senate Committee Shrinks SUV Tax Break," Taxpayers for Common Sense, 10/3/03.
  8. "China Set to Act on Fuel Economy," New York Times, 11/18/03.



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