President Bush On Rodney Square
January 24th, 2007 by Maria EvansToday I was in Wilmington covering the visit of President George Bush, and I guess I should admit up front that I was pretty excited. I like GW.
The crowd consisted of mostly DuPont employees, apparently over a thousand of them, about 50 or so Delaware Republicans, Senator Tom Carper, Governor Minner (who Bush insightfully called “Minor”), the national press that follows Bush, and the local press. The topic was Bush’s energy initiative.
President Bush talked about a lot of things I enjoy hearing about, like clean coal technology and reducing oil consumption. He signed an EO that requires the federal government to invest in more hybrid and ethanol cars and “plug in” vehicles when the technology makes them more than what Bush called “golf carts.”
The President looked forward to a future where your house “becomes a power generator,” and he brought up wind power, an idea that’s floundering and dying in Sussex County:
“We’ve got a lot of wind, especially in Washington.” -George Bush
Bush has requested that Congress dole out 2.7 billion dollars for his energy initiatives so we can “leave a better future.” And I couldn’t agree more. When Bush created the world’s largest marine reserve in 2006, I was hoping that was a signal that he would pay a little more attention to the environment.
I asked Representative Wayne Smith, House Majority Leader, his thoughts on the President’s speech:
President Bush is an optimistic man which is a good fit, we’re an optimistic people. I think he rightly highlighted the role technology is going to play in developing a better security situation for America, and better environmental stewardship through applying technology towards reducing demand on foreign oil. Technology has always been America’s great competitive strength in the world. He’s right to focus on it and I believe the people of DuPont, the scientists around the country and the citizens of this country can deliver on the tremendous opportunities promised by technology.
He added:
I think he’s going to be pleased in the next 20 years when the seeds he planted today deliver greater energy independence and great technology in terms of providing alternative fuels to the United States of America.
I was also able to catch former Governor Pete DuPont and get his thoughts on the President’s comments. Governor DuPont said that the President’s State of the Union speech was a “vision speech,” and had this to say about the President’s visit to Wilmington:
He {President Bush} talked about the technology that makes that vision possible. In other words, he came down to the specifics.
January 25th, 2007 at 8:30 am
I appreciate your report, Maria, and applaud Bush’s initiatives. I have to say, though, that these are too little and very late in coming.
Bush inherited our flawed and weak energy policies and until now has done almost nothing himself. Nor had his GOP Congress.
Even now, $2.7 billion is a pittance, considering the magnitude of the growing problem we face. $2.7 billion is a little more than the amount that we are spending on his Iraq War in a week!!!
And Maria, clean coal technology does not address global warming like wind power, solar power and even nuclear power do, so clean coal should be the last approach we choose for Delaware’ future.
Wind power should not be “floundering” in Delaware, if only our leaders would take a more farsighted view. The wind is a free fuel, coal or even ethanol are not free and never will be, so it is time for Delawareans to invest for our future!
Bush’s proposal of a 1 mile per gallon increase in CAFE standards for our automotive fleet is far too modest, so why is it only now that he has addressed it?
At least he is finally moving toward the right track on energy policy, so I will give him a grade of “D”, up from an “F”! Let us now expand this initiative, taking much, much more into account energy independence and global warming, to move us up into the “A” category!!!
January 25th, 2007 at 11:54 am
Definitely, too little, too late, and I for one think that unless the momentum continues forward for Wind Power it will disappear with the breeze. I believe GB has little time left to make a mark with this, too much back peddling now, and we need to look to our 2008 candidates for their stance on this issue. As far as DE goes, we need stronger opposition against wind power besides that it obstructs the view of the horizon. Such an argument reminds me of Don Quixote engaging in a sword fight with the windmills.
January 25th, 2007 at 4:29 pm
I would be thrilled if the IR power plant was clean coal instead of what it’s like now, Perry.