In an America 'can do' speech, Obama introduces Energy Security Trust for transportation innovations

President Obama laid out plans for his Energy Security Trust at the
Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory Friday. In a speech at the Energy Department's Argonne National Laboratory just outside Chicago, flanked by electric vehicles, President Barack Obama introduced a proposal Friday for an Energy Security Trust that would inject $2 billion into alternative energy research, particularly into how the United States powers transportation. Research into fuel economy, battery technology and related innovations is a mainstay of Argonne. The president praised the lab's contributions, among other things, to a revival of a U.S. car industry that was close to flat-lining four years ago. With the energy trust, the president said:

We can support scientists who are designing new engines that are more energy efficient; support scientists that are developing cheaper batteries that can go farther on a single charge; support scientists and engineers that are devising new ways to fuel our cars and trucks with new sources of clean energy'like advanced biofuels and natural gas'so drivers can one day go coast to coast without using a drop of oil.

And the reason so many different people from the private sector, the public sector, our military support this idea is because it's not just about saving money; it's also about saving the environment, but it's also about our national security.

The spending proposal comes under the administration's Blueprint for a Clean and Secure Energy Future. Two years ago this month, the White House released another blueprint with almost the same name, except it left out the word "clean." The blueprint includes considerable attention paid to truly clean technologies, but also continues funding for "clean coal," something environmental advocates view as an oxymoron.

Using revenue derived from fossil fuels extracted from public lands to invest in projects that help wean America off fossil fuels may have internal contradictions, but the concept has a certain positive resonance. Indeed, any additional effort directed at getting the nation off fossil fuels is welcome, and President Obama has outpaced every president'including Jimmy Carter, who got the ball rolling 35 years ago'in his commitment, oratorical and financial, to supporting renewable energy research, development and commercialization.

But the president's speech came on the same day that media sources say the White House may rewrite its proposal to regulate greenhouse gases, which, if true, means yet another delay on that score. The juxtaposition with the Energy Security Trust whipsaws eco-advocates once again with the two-steps forward, one-step backward approach the administration has engaged in with its energy and climate change policies.

That a mere $2 billion over a decade is being proposed is a testament, once again, to the myopia of a Congress hamstrung by an obstructionist Republican-controlled House of Representatives. The gridlock has put a desperately needed comprehensive energy plan out of reach. In fact, that's something the U.S. hasn't had since the Carter administration. So we're stuck with baby steps like this one.

Please read below the fold for more about Obama's speech and excerpts from the White House's fact sheet on the Blueprint for a Clean and Energy Secure Future.