San Diego CityBEAT: Thomas L.Friedman of NY Times calls US energy policy a Marshal plan for terrorists as Bush Administration apologizes to the Saudis

San Diego CityBEAT

NY Times Thomas Friedman calls US energy policy a Marshal plan for terrorists as Bush Administration apologizes to the Saudi's for State of Union energy remarks

"According to President Bush, Americans may be oil addicts. During his State of the Union address, we heard the Grand Oil President actually suggest for the first time that America is addicted to foreign oil—without mentioning drilling in Alaska in the same breath. His solution: rely upon alternate energy technologies as well as ethanol (a grain-based fuel). For a good 12 hours, energy-policy observers were surprised, and Americans were intrigued. Was it possible that a loyal oilman would turn against his kin? Sadly, no. The speech turned out to be more a step back than the beginning of a 12-step rehabilitation process for an addicted nation.

The morning after the speech, The New York Times reported that the Energy Department would begin laying off researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in the next week or two because of cuts to its budget. The cuts were reported to be concentrated among researchers in wind and biomass technologies, which includes ethanol. Those are two of the technologies Bush cited as holding the promise to replace part of the nation’s oil imports. Moreover, the budget for the laboratory was cut by nearly 15 percent, to $174 million from $202 million, requiring the layoff of about 40 staff members out of a total of 930. The president’s office issued those cuts. The next day, Reuters reported that the Saudis were disturbed by the president’s language and asked for a clarification. The Saudis got that clarification within hours. Bush’s energy secretary, Samuel Bodman, explained that the president didn’t mean what he said literally. In a conference call with reporters, he explained that what the president meant was that alternative fuels could displace the increased demand for oil from the Middle East over the next 20 years. He wasn’t actually talking about reducing our consumption so much as replacing the sources that feed our increasing appetite for oil with alternative fuels. As noted by New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, it is inconceivable that a country that can double the speed of microchips every 18 months is somehow incapable of innovating its way to energy independence. Yet, in the years that have followed the energy crisis and 9/11, America has done precious little to reduce oil consumption or increase fuel efficiency. "It is commonly accepted street wisdom that the pusher will always lie to the addict. So as we addicts struggle to discern the truth, we will likely have to look within because the words coming from Washington and its oil-rich allies are geared to promote consumption, not conservation. Americans might have an opportunity at an intervention in their coming Congressional election cycle, but kicking this particular addiction will require a lot more than going cold turkey."