The fine print: Administration officials said that the goal is 20 percent below projected annual gasoline usage, not off today's levels.
[...]
...[P]eople worried about climate change were disappointed. Using projections means that carbon dioxide emissions from transportation fuels will drop only slightly from today's levels; other parts of the economy produce the other two-thirds of greenhouse gases.
"This is not nearly enough to really put us on the path of reducing emissions down to 60 percent or 80 percent of current levels, which is what we really need," said Eileen Claussen, president of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change.
So much for that, then. Just another PR campaign by President Photo-Op. And Bush's plan to double the capacity of the Strategic Oil Reserve? I wondered about that too -- if we're reducing pretoleum consumption (and now we know we're not), why would we need to put more oil aside?
To keep oil prices high.
Bloomberg:
George W. Bush's decision to double the emergency oil stockpile in the U.S. may help to stem a six- month slide in prices as China, India and South Korea also add to demand by bolstering their defenses against shortages.
Oil gained the most since September 2005 yesterday after the U.S. Energy Department said it will boost the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to 1.5 billion barrels over 20 years. China, where imports rose 15 percent last year, began to fill its reserve in October. India also plans to double its inventories.
The U.S. plan "helps puts a floor in the market," said Antoine Halff, head of energy research at Fimat USA Inc. in New York. "It creates competition for the same barrels. It tightens the market on top of the strategic reserve builds elsewhere such as China."
I should've known right off the bat. It never stops with this guy -- every little proposal, every damned thing Bush puts his name to, seems designed to help corporations screw consumers.
Tags: news | politics | Bush | oil | environment | energy | global warming | propaganda | State of the Union
