Less than a day after the president vowed in his State of the Union address to reduce America’s dependence on oil from the Middle East, Bush’s secretary and national economic adviser said the president didn’t really mean it. And as if that weren’t enough, when Bush said in the same speech that he’s committed to expanding investment and research into alternative fuels, he apparently didn’t mean that either.
The Energy Department will begin laying off researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in the next week or two because of cuts to its budget.
A veteran researcher said the staff had been told that the cuts would be concentrated among researchers in wind and biomass, which includes ethanol. Those are two of the technologies that Mr. Bush cited on Tuesday night as holding the promise to replace part of the nation’s oil imports.
The budget for the laboratory, which is just west of Denver, was cut by nearly 15 percent, to $174 million from $202 million, requiring the layoff of about 40 staff members out of a total of 930, said a spokesman, George Douglas. The cut is for the fiscal year that began on Oct. 1.
It’s just the way this administration operates. On Tuesday, Bush told the nation that he “will” increase investment in “cutting-edge” renewable-energy research. On Wednesday, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory reports that it had to dismiss a big chunk of its staff because of a lack of funding.
It’s just another day in Bushville.