What goes great with the new plug-in hybrids premiering at the auto show in Detroit? Federal funding to help make sure those cars and other alternative-fuel vehicles make it to the dealership sometime in the near future.

According to our friends across the pond at the Independent, it seems that President Bush might actually put our tax dollars toward something that we wholeheartedly support:

It is likely that the President Bush will use his State of the Union address in two weeks to press his theme of America's "addiction to oil", as he first did a year ago. Washington insiders expect him to announce funding for alternative fuel research for next year's federal budget.

Not surprisingly, alternative fuel research funding could use a boost:

At $180m (£93m), the annual budget for the Department of Energy's vehicle technologies office has repeatedly been criticised as too modest given the scale of the environmental pollution from more than 200 million petrol vehicles on US roads. Only a fraction of the budget is distributed to groups working on alternative fuels, who have to compete for funds against academic institutions and corporate ventures working on light-weight materials and other projects to improve the efficiency of petrol vehicles.

Hmm…$180 million. Sounds like a lot of money, until you consider that the Iraq war costs about $200 million a day. How about them apples?

Posted by Alisa Opar on Jan 9, 2007 at 2:34 PM
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