Gerogie Bush hyped the idea that he'd be pumping money and resources into alternative energy. But as the New York Times reports he was, as is usual, full of Bushshit.

The Energy Department will begin laying off researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in the next week or two because of cuts to its budget.

A veteran researcher said the staff had been told that the cuts would be concentrated among researchers in wind and biomass, which includes ethanol. Those are two of the technologies that Mr. Bush cited on Tuesday night as holding the promise to replace part of the nation's oil imports.

The budget for the laboratory, which is just west of Denver, 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, said a spokesman, George Douglas. The cut is for the fiscal year that began on Oct. 1.

So it would seem Georgie Bush is for alternative energy, except for when he's cutting the budget for it and laying off researchers. I'm sure the magic hand of the market will come up with something real quick. Unless of course Exxon uses some of that record profit to buy up the start ups and mothball their research.
posted by Idle Crank at 2/02/2006 12:20:00 AM