Jobs at the National Renewable Energy Lab saved by photo-op

February 21, 2006

It had all the makings of a debacle. The president spent the night in Denver so he could deliver a speech at the National Renewable Energy Lab this morning, as part of the White House push to tout the administration’s energy initiatives this week. There was, however, one fairly significant problem.

The Bush administration, almost immediately after the president vowed in his State of the Union address to expand investment and research into alternative fuels, began laying off researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The budget cuts that forced the layoffs were concentrated among researchers working on the same technologies singled out for praise in the SOTU. It was an example of Bush’s approach to governing at its most inexplicable.

All of this was going to be awfully embarrassing when the president showed up at the Lab today. And it would have been, of course, if the administration didn’t scramble to avoid the public relations problem.

On the eve of a presidential visit to a renewable energy lab in Colorado, the Department of Energy said it has transferred $5 million to the operation, which had funding cut and employees laid off this month due to budget shortfalls.

U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman transferred the money over the weekend to restore jobs at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado, according to a department news release.

What an amazing coincidence. The administration wanted to lay off 32 researchers and technicians, right up until the president was slated to visit their office. Then, magically, the money reappears.

Well, some of the money.

Bush cut the budget for the National Renewable Energy Lab by $28 million, but restored just enough to keep the staff on the job. As Philip Clapp, president of the National Environmental Trust, said, “The $5 million stopped the bodies from going out the door, but it doesn’t provide the money for the (renewable energy) programs.”

As for the Lab’s employees, there’s some relief — and some confusion.

“I’m still questioning why the budget cuts even happened or why the layoffs had to happen in the first place — like how it can happen two or three weeks later they restore the money to the budget,” said Tina Larney, an employee being rehired who works with state and local governments on energy initiatives.

“It makes me question … the seriousness of the commitment [of] the administration and the government in Washington to renewable energies and moving the U.S. forward in our energy policy.”

You mean Bush’s policy commitments are shallow and meaningless? You don’t say….

funding by inintelligent design

  • Just watch for the “flip” back again once Bush is safely out of town and his little “Energy Tour” is over (he was here in Michigan yesterday).

    I hope nobody shows up for his appearance or they all boo him.

    Seriously, you can be sure this won’t be an interactive event, as the attendees are likely bitter (and attending under duress), plus they are scientists whose existence for the day is solely to serve as Bush’s backdrop. They will know better than to believe a word of his bullshit, and he will be utterly unable to answer any possible question.

    I can see it now, Bush goes into one of his “Renewable Energy, uh… that’s energy that can be renewed…” in front of a bunch of actual advanced degree researchers on the subject.

    Grrr.

  • Tina, Tina, Tina. That outburst may mean a few thousand dollars of that $5 million (in fact, your exact salary’s amount) may not wind its way to the lab afterall. Don’t you know scientists aren’t supposed to say things like that! And oh yes, we’ll give you a reference on your way out!

    Yeah, I know, I’m just a cynic….

  • Isn’t this a lovely example of two-faced Bushism?

    Why does the guy even pretend like he governs this country?

  • I pointed this out in the comments section to a previous post, but I think that it is significant that the $28 million cut in NREL’s funding was due to earmarks that diverted the funds to other projects and not due to a ‘mix up’ as suggested by the Pres.

  • This ought to be one of those stories that every Democratic politicians stores away to trot out on numerous occasions, if not on national TV or radio, then in their travels around the district. It could easily become mythic.

    It’s short to tell, comprehensible, and exposes the essence of Bush’s “photo op” hate-the-workers (especially scientists) approach to “governing”.

    Will they do it? Don’t hold your breath. Dems don’t want to lose their opportunity of lapping up the spittle which the majority party drools during its suckfest.

  • “funding by inintelligent design”
    Comment by kali

    that’s ‘faith-based’ inintelligent design.

  • George says the layoff and reinstatement wasn’t a cynical PR ploy, but rather just plain old incompetence: “Sometimes, decisions made as the result of the appropriations process, the money may not end up where it was supposed to have gone.”

    Except that the $28 million has been missing for over two weeks, and they only managed to cough up $5 million, on the eve of his visit.

    Any bets the other $23 million stays missing?

  • An opportunity to create a Ronald Reagan welfare queen in reverse. The difference is this one is true. The Dems could use it to bash the daylights out of every repuke they encounter on TV or wherever. But they won’t do it. Our Dem leaders have sold us out. It’s time for a revolution in the party.

  • Have you seen the footage of Bush at the renewable energy lab photo op wearing a blue construction hat while spilling laboratory samples…. once again showing the world his famous ” deer in the headlight look”.?
    Priceless

  • A reader sent me an excerpt from what was apparently an earlier version of the Yahoo News version.

    “‘You’re doing great work here,’ said Bush, who picked up a bottle of clear-colored ethanol and smelled it.”

    It’s sort of interesting that they’d edit out that quote.

  • It’s just like Bush to talk big during an election year but come up empty when it comes to follow-through. Already the New York Times is reporting in today’s editorial page that Bush’s budget offers to cut $4.4 billion from energy programs (as well as cut $53 billion from education and jobs programs – so much for No Child Left Behind.) Disgusting

    http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/21/opinion/21tues3.html

  • Oil is above $60.00 per barrel, so energy is HOT, HOT, HOT! Democrats have conditioned the voters to expect federal action on energy. So the President obliged, just as a president from the mistrusted MINORITY PARTY did. You got a problem with that? Then go whine up a downspout!

  • OMG, Waumpuscat, you truly are moronic. Yes, when oil prices reach $60, it starts to affect the budgets of the lower and part of the middle class. Gee, brilliant analysis there. As to your perception that democrats have conditioned voters to expect federal action on energy, hmm, gee, who put on price caps, ya, Nixon, you dolt.

  • It’s like the gold rush of 1849. The rushers only got about 4% or the gold before they stopped digging. Fosile fuels are only a small fraction of total available energy. There the renewable types, crops like corn or even tumble weed for example. And, there’s the perpetual ones like, sun, win and natural water flows. I think the sun is the real reliable source of energy that won’t run out and if it does then nothing else counts anyhow.

    They say that the cost of solar cells is too high. It takes too long for the investment in them to pay off. Are they not comparing the cost of solar cells to the cost of oil,coal and gas? Have they redone the calculation recently?

    Theoretically, solar cells last forever. We know better but they have no moving parts. They just set there and generate electricity with no help at all. That electricity can be used to break water up into it’s two components, hydrogen and oxygen. Hydrogen is a directly usable portable fuel for just about everyting. Oxygen can be released into the atmosphere making breathing a little easier and when the hydrogen is used, burned in the engine we get back to water where we started. That is a complete, perpetual energy cycle that is as reliable as the sun.

    Perhaps someone would like to calculate how many solar cells and their total energy generating capabilities that could be bought with the money spent on Iraq. America, you should have known better than put a “born again” in the white house. That statement alone, “born again” says he was dead before he began his “dead end” energy plans that look too much like catering to big oil that has a vested interest in stopping perpetual energy from ever coming on line.

    Let me invite you to see something that might change your mind about the “born again” recovering sinner thing. It’s a page from ancient history that proves the “born again” book, the Bible is a hoax. Will this have a telling effect on our view of government in the future?

    http://www.hoax-buster.org

    • Comments are closed.