President Obama is asking that Congress budget $2 billion for alternative energy research over the next ten years, with an emphasis on clean car technology.
He is due to announce the specifics of his clean energy plan — which includes the establishment of an Energy Security Trust — during a Friday speech at the Argonne National Laboratory outside Chicago, USA Today reports. The location for his announcement is politically strategic: Argonne has taken a leading role in research of high-tech vehicle technology, USA Today says.
Newser says Mr. Obama is anxious to wean the nation off fossil fuels, and part of his energy plan calls for the use of money from federal oil and gas leases for research and development of new technologies.
Conservatives especially have objected to White House calls for clean energy development as a new tax.
But in his State of the Union, Mr. Obama said his idea to divert lease funds for energy research should overcome those objections.
“Much of our new-found energy is drawn from lands and waters that we, the public, own together,” Mr. Obama said in his State of the Union address. “So tonight, I propose we use some of our oil and gas revenues to fund an energy security trust that will drive new research and technology to shift our cars and trucks off oil for good.”
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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