President Bush on Tuesday became the first commander in chief in 28 years to visit the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, where he said the country needs an alternative- energy portfolio to wean itself from oil.
“In order for us to achieve this national goal of becoming less dependent on foreign oil, we’ve got to spend money, and the best place to do that is through labs such as NREL,” Bush said.
Oil addiction threatens the nation’s security and economy and should be the impetus to jump-start America to a future of renewable energy, he said. “I recognize there has been some mixed signals when it comes to funding,” Bush said in reference to proposed cuts in NREL’s budget by both Congress and the administration.
“As a result of the appropriation process, the money may not end up where it was supposed to have gone,” he said. “I think we’ve cleared up those discrepancies.”
When the administration issued its proposed budget Feb. 6, the lab was slated for a nearly 8 percent cut in its $157 million budget. Now, the budget will swing from a $12 million cut to a $15 million increase, and the 32 NREL workers laid off 12 days ago have been recalled.
“We appreciate what you’re doing, we expect you to keep doing it, and we want to help you keep doing it,” Bush told NREL scientists to applause in the lab’s shipping and receiving area.
In 1978, President Carter visited the lab when the country faced another energy crisis. Carter had called energy independence “the moral equivalent of war.”
Between 1978 and 2005, U.S. daily oil consumption rose 1.2 million barrels to 20 million barrels a day, according to federal statistics.
Bush said Tuesday that the country needs to embrace a “national will” to use renewable energy.
The next 20 years, he said, promises to be more fruitful than the past 20 in reducing U.S. oil dependence through cost- efficient, electric plug-in hybrid cars, ethanol made of wood chips, and wind and solar energy.
“In 1981, I don’t think anybody ever thought there would be such a thing as e-mail,” Bush said. “It’s amazing what research and development can do to the way we live.”
Other technology, such as hydrogen cars, will take longer, but Bush said he’s committed to long-term strategy.
The president moderated an hour-long panel discussion with seven public and private alternative-energy leaders, including NREL director Dan Arvizu.
Bush stressed that partnership between the federal government and private industry is critical to the renewable-energy initiatives.
NREL’s mission since its 1974 founding is to bring renewable- energy technology to the marketplace, said Arvizu, who escorted Bush on a brief tour of the lab’s pilot biorefinery, which processes 1 ton per day of plant stalk and wood waste into ethanol.
“We’ve been through some difficult times over the last few months,” Arvizu said after Bush left. “We have the support of our congressional delegation and the Department of Energy, and now the president has punctuated the importance of our work here.
“It’s high on the national agenda and a priority of the president. But this work has to be supported over the long term.”
Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colo., said Bush’s proposed funding for the lab still comes up short.
“Despite what the president announced, NREL’s funding is still down” when compared with 2005, Udall said. “That doesn’t say to me that the president is thinking boldly about a new energy future.”
The Sierra Club, a national environmental group, also questioned Bush’s motives.
“The president’s budget calls for more oil and gas drilling and less conservation and energy efficiency,” said Sierra Club spokesman David Hamilton.
Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., however, praised the president’s position, saying, “He recognized this is something he needs to stand behind for the long term. … This visit means good things in the short and long term for NREL and Colorado.”
After the NREL visit, Bush returned to Buckley Air Force Base.
Bush was joined on Air Force One by Gov. Bill Owens, who will attend the National Governors Association’s winter meeting in Washington, D.C., which starts this weekend.
Staff writer Dave Curtin can be reached at 303-820-1276 or dcurtin@denverpost.com.
