Several environmental groups announced today that they will air a television ad that is highly critical of President George Bush?s energy plan. NHPR's David Darman reports.
The ad is financed by a coalition, including the New Hampshire Sierra Club, New Hampshire Global Warming, and New Hampshire Public Interest Research Group. The ad, which is scheduled to run for a week, accuses the President of essentially auctioning off the nation?s environment.
SOUND UP:
AD: 10 09 does it seem like our environment is on the auction block?
president bush?s energy plan:
opens up protected lands to new drilling??.builds more coal plants. ?and fails to lower energy prices. ?.
Bush?s big supporters clean up, ?while we?re cleaned out. 10 21
The ads sponsors say the President was less than honest in his address to the nation. Former State Senator Rick Russman of Kingston says the President talked about the need to conserve fuel and build more efficient vehicles, but his plan actually cuts funding for these measures while beefing up finances to build new power plants.
55 08 Its really just weighted in the wrong direction. I mean, its just backwards from where it should be. Its certainly. I mean, here we have a high tech society, and we?ve got low tech solutions being offered, and I think that?s where the president is falling short. 55 21
Russman and others say they wish the president had mandated, for example, more efficient S-U-V?s. They also claim that fossil fuel consumption could be further cut if the government made it easier for households to switch to solar or wind power. Jon Barrows of New Hampshire Sierra Club criticized the president for failing to emphasize simple measures that could make an immediate difference in energy consumption, such as the type of light bulb people choose.
45 04 compact fluorescent light bulbs use a quarter of the electricity of normal light bulbs, and last ten times as long. And, each compact fluorescent bulb saves 500 pounds of coal. 45 14
While New Hampshire?s environmental community is critical of the Bush plan, New Hampshire Senate Republican Bob Smith is being careful to show that he supports the President. Smith says that he supports 98 percent of the president?s plan, and that his position on drilling for oil in the artic is being overblown by the media.
I don?t think the support is there to drill in the artic wildlife refuge, but I think, again, its always fun to pick out the differences on one thing I think its such a small part of this, it is not the thing that?s going to drive the energy plan.
Smith, who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, says he?ll review the Bush plan. Meanwhile, the ad sponsored by the environmental groups will run on two New Hampshire television stations.
For N H P R news, I?m DD
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