It has as much to do with geography as partisanship – its alternative fuel production. How Congress responds to President Bush’s call to reduce foreign oil dependence through more alternative fuel production, depend on the geography. The nation should get serious about diversifying its energy sources, the president articulated in his State of the Union address. And few lawmakers would argue the premise.
Bush is proposing roughly $1 billion in the 2007 budget. But to what degree specific fuel technologies, research labs and private companies should benefit from this? And which industries need government protection as technology changes? This depends very much on where a House or Senate member lives.
According to lawmakers, there’s plenty of energy demand to go around. They also say that they hope to avoid the sort of parochial competition, which fueled a surge in earmarks for pork-barrel projects, lobbyist-related corruption investigations and deficit spending in a time of war.
Via: Knox Studio