Future fuel
A responsible energy policy backed by the White House - can it be true? In light of such things as Vice President Dick Cheney's closed-door meetings with energy company executives, and the Bush administration's suggestion to drill for oil in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, it would come as a surprise if the White House walked the straight and narrow path on energy policy. On Monday, President Bush signed energy legislation that purports to take a long-term approach to solving problems such as reliance on foreign oil, high gas prices and the environmental effects of burning fossil fuels. Some of the main points of the plan include $14.5 billion in tax breaks for energy companies in hopes they will work to further development of renewable energy sources and the promotion of efficiency, an extension of daylight-savings time, new efficiency standards for commercial appliances, $1 billion for coastal environmental management for states where there is offshore oil drilling and a $1.8 billion program to promote clean coal research and development. At 1,724 pages, the bill is quite complicated.