Monday, March 23, 2009

Obama: Renewable Energy Portion of Budget is 'Nonnegotiable'

I love Democrats who stand up and fight. Just love 'em.

President Barack Obama's campaign promise to explore new sources of renewable energy is one element of his budget that is nonnegotiable, say administration officials.

While Obama is willing to work with Congress on some portions of his $3.6 trillion budget proposal, his energy plan is not subject to the standard wheeling and dealing between the administration and lawmakers, aides indicated this past weekend.

Standing firm on his energy agenda, Obama planned to make the case Monday for a budget proposal that invests billions in research designed to reduce climate change and guarantees loans for companies that develop clean energy technologies. Obama has tied his first budget proposal as president to a renewable energy program to help the United States move toward energy independence.


A fact sheet released today before Obama spoke to a gathering of business leaders and renewable energy entrepreneurs breaks down the details. Besides the $59 billion total in the stimulus that includes support for advanced energy research centers and battery (that's us!) and storage technology, the 10-year budget contains $75 billion for permanent tax credits for clean energy development - showing that for every dollar we invest, two comes back to the economy. We create jobs, strive for energy price stability and independence (eventually) and save the environment all at the same time. What's not to love?

The guy intends to live up to his promises.

"What we do expect and what we are going to stand very firm on — because this president, this vice president have made this clear — that there are these priorities that brought them to the dance here: energy reform, health care reform, education, all done in the context of a budget that cuts the deficit in half over our first term," said Jared Bernstein, economics adviser to Vice President Joe Biden.


Of course the Republicans are crying "Doom! Doom I tell you!" and they may manage to drag a few Blue Dogs with them, but I do believe that the only people doomed by this will be the knuckle-dragging fossil fuel enthusiasts who vote to protect Big Oil and show that they don't care about our environment or creating jobs or being a world leader in this research. History will not be kind to these people.

Democrats worry the plan inflates deficit spending; the Congressional Budget Office estimates Obama's budget would generate $9.3 trillion in red ink over the next decade. Republicans say it would impose massive tax increases, including on polluters; Washington could raise billions from companies that use unclean fuels, what GOP leaders called a carbon tax.


Yes, that would be horrible, making those people pay the real cost of the energy we consume now. The Republicans will neglect to tell you how much of a "massive tax increase" it will be when gas goes back up over $4 a gallon, or when we have to move everyone out of the state of Florida because it is under water, but that shouldn't surprise anyone; they always fail to tell people how expensive their plans will be. At least Obama has the decency to put the cost up front - and his plan has all kinds of benefits too. Win-win for us if we play our cards right.

Prime time news conference tomorrow night.