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Roundup: Bush's Energy Plan Triggers Mixed Response
U.S. President George W. Bush signed two executive orders on Friday to begin implementation of his national energy policy amid sharp criticism from Democrats and environmentalists.
"These two orders are the next steps toward a brighter energy future," Bush said before signing the orders.
Bush, who traveled to a hydroelectric plant in Pennsylvania to sell his energy policy, urged his supporters to combat what he called unfair criticism of his blueprint announced on Thursday.
The 163-page energy blueprint, crafted by a Cabinet-level task force headed by Vice President Dick Cheney, outlined 105 recommendations from speeding up construction of power lines and development of clean coal technology.
Bush's plan has won acclaim from Republicans and the energy industry, which stands to make billions of dollars from his ideas, and complaints from Democrats and environmentalist, who hope to exploit the policy as a way to portray the president as a captive of industry.
While Bush argued that his energy package would deal with "the most serious energy shortage since the oil embargoes of the 1970s, " his critics noted that the plan set no targets for improved energy efficiency and offered no short-term relief for out-of- control electricity prices in the West.
Though many of the proposals outlined in Bush's energy plan can be enacted through regulations or executive orders issued by the White Houses, about 20 percent of them have to seek approval by the House and Senate, including several proposals sure to trigger sharp debate in Capitol Hill.
Republican leaders in the House and Senate said Bush's proposals were a balanced effort to develop new energy supplies while protecting the environment, and they said Congress could move quickly to turn the recommendations into legislation that could be adopted before the August recess.
Speaker Dennis Hastert of Illinois said the White House proposal "strikes the right balance by successfully boosting conservation, implementing renewable fuels and 21st century technologies and ensuring safe exploration."
However, Congressional Democrats denounced the plan as a gift to Bush's old business partners in the energy industry and a grave threat to the environment.
Both Bush and Cheney are former Texas oil industry executives. Energy companies also were heavy contributors to the former Texas governor's presidential campaign.
"It really looks like the Exxon-Mobil annual report, and maybe that's really what it is," said Representative Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri, the House Democratic leader.
Senator Tom Daschle of South Dakota, the Senate Democratic leader, vowed to block any effort to turn parts of Bush's plan into legislation, especially its proposal for drilling in the Arctic refuge.
The attack on Bush's energy plan was especially heated among Democratic lawmakers from the power-strapped West.
Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, said that Bush's proposals "will not provide one more kilowatt to California this summer, prevent one less minute of blackouts or keep one less dollar from being transferred from California into the hands of the Texas-based energy producers."
In California, Democratic Governor Gray Davis accused Bush of " turning a blind eye to the bleeding and hemorrhaging that exists in this state."
"We are literally in a war with energy companies, many of which reside in Texas," Davis said.
Meanwhile, leading environmental groups held a joint news conference in Washington on Thursday to denounce Bush's plan, which they said would spoil natural resources but do little to ease the short-term energy shortage.
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