Ben's annotated comments

President Bush: "It's Time To Get Rid Of The Old, Stale Debates On The Environment And Recognize New Technologies Are Going To Enable Us To Achieve A Lot Of Objectives At The Same Time." "Technology will enable us to be able to say we can grow our economy and protect our environment at the same time. It's not a zero-sum game anymore. These technological breakthroughs are going to say to our farmers, you're energy producers. And that's good for America. It's going to say to those entrepreneurs that are risk-takers, this is a good place to try to make a good return on capital." (President George W. Bush, Remarks On Energy, St. Louis, MO, 10/12/06)

YES.

Research And Development

President Bush: "In Order To Encourage Private Initiative And Private Investment In New Energies, We Ought To Make The Research And Development Tax Credit A Permanent Part Of The Tax Code." "There's a research and development tax credit that's on the books. The problem is, it expires every year, on a year-by-year basis, which means you've got to come back to Congress on a year-to-year basis; which also means there's unpredictability in the tax code, and that's not wise, if you're trying to encourage people to invest dollars in the long-term."

DUBIOUS. IF THERE IS DOUGH TO BE MADE, ENTREPEURS WILL STEP UP TO THE PLATE,

Ø "We Need To Continue What We're Doing At The Federal Level, Which Is Spend Your Money On Research … To Find New Ways To Power Our Economy, New Ways To Conserve, New Ways To Protect The Environment Through New Technologies." "Since I've been President, we've spent about $10 billion on research. … We will vigorously pursue new ways to power our automobiles. If you want to get off oil, the surest and quickest way to do so is to change how we power our automobiles. We consume a lot of oil, through gasoline. And the more inefficient our cars are, the more we drive old clunkers, the more gasoline we use, which means we're more dependent on oil."

SEE ABOVE RE FEDERAL SPENDING WHEN THE MARKET DOES IT BEST.

Ø "The Fastest Way We Can Begin To Change The Consumer Habits Is To Promote Hybrid Vehicles." "You can get up to, now, $3,400 tax credit when you buy your hybrid automobile. In other words, the government is using the tax code to stimulate demand, which then should stimulate more automobile –more production on the auto lines of hybrids. And the more hybrids we get on the road, the less oil we're going to be using."

THAT SEEMS OK.

Ø "We're Spending Money On New Battery Technologies." "See, we envision a day in which light and powerful batteries will become available in the marketplace so that you can drive the first 40 miles on electricity, on batteries, and your car won't have to look like a golf cart. … And the battery technology is coming. In order to expedite it, Sam's shop, the Department of Energy, is putting out grants."

THAT IS PROBABLY OK, BUT, AGAIN, IF THERE ARE $$$ TO BE MADE, CAPITALISTS WILL INVEST THEIR $$$

Ø Ethanol Is "Another Technology That Will Enable Us To Help Change Our Driving Habits." "People are using ethanol. For those of you who are in the ethanol business, you're on the leading edge of change. It's coming, and government can help. That's why we enhanced and extended the 10-cent-per-gallon tax credit. We did that to stimulate production. We've extended a 51-cent-per-gallon tax credit for ethanol blenders. We provided a 30-percent tax credit for the installation of alternative fuel stations, up to $30,000 a year."

CAREFUL. IF THE PRICE OF ENERGY DROPS, ETHANOL WILL JUST BE A GIVE-AWAY TO HELP SOME FARMERS WHO HAVE BEEN GAMING THE SYSTEM FOR DECADES. FOR MANY YEARS IT TOOK MORE ENERGY TO PRODUCE ETHANOL-BASED ENERGY THAN THE ENERGY DERIVED.

• "It Makes Sense To Spend Money … On Researching Cellulosic Ethanol." "And in my judgment, the thing that's preventing ethanol from becoming more widespread across the country is the lack of other types of feedstocks that are required to make ethanol – sugar works, corn works, and it seems like it makes sense to spend money, your money, on researching cellulosic ethanol, so that we could use wood chips, or switch grass, or other natural materials."

SEE ABOVE

Ben