Posted on: Sunday, May 22, 2005

EDITORIAL
U.S. needs energy plan for less oil dependence

It's gratifying to hear President Bush praise the prospects for biodiesel, a renewable fuel that can be made from sources such as soybeans and discarded vegetable oil. That resolve to ease this nation off its dependence on fossil fuels, foreign and domestic, should find its way into the administration's energy bill.

Bush was on the mark in promoting alternatives such as ethanol and biodiesel last week while visiting Virginia BioDiesel, a plant east of Richmond. He added that he wanted to see incentives for their development as elements of an energy bill he wants the Senate to pass this summer.

All Americans should want the same: Expanding the market for these cleaner-burning fuels will benefit the environment as well as the domestic farm industry that produces the raw materials.

However, it will take much more than that to offset provisions in the measure that remain overwhelmingly sympathetic to the oil industry, to the detriment of conservation and environmentally friendly energy initiatives.

Indeed, feeding America's dependence and overconsumption make it extremely difficult to ease that reliance on fossil fuels and move to alternative sources.

There is an encouraging, bipartisan move in the Senate to propose a bill that includes $11 billion in tax incentives for energy-saving technologies and renewable sources. That's more than the $8 billion in the House bill, passed last month, and the White House thought even that was too much.

Republican and Democratic senators also want a reduction in the nation's demand for oil, rebates for efficient appliances and other measures to curb America's gluttonous energy consumption.

That's a move in the right direction.

Now it's up to the Bush administration to acknowledge this bipartisan support and endorse an energy policy that can sustain the health and prosperity of this country for the long term.