Teksti State of the Union ræðu forsetans

Eftir einn og hálfan klukkutíma mun forsetinn flytja eftirfarandi ræðu - Think Progress birti teksta ræðunnar fyrir hálftíma síðan. Bæði Think Progress og Wonkette ætla líka að Live-blogga ræðuna, sem ætti að vera skemmtilegt lesefni.

Og um hvað ætlar forsetinn að tala? Hitt og þetta, m.a. frelsi og stríðið gegn óvinum frelsis, jú og svo ætlar hann að tala um "energy independence", alveg eins og í fyrra, hittífyrra og híttí-hittífyrra... úr ræðu forsetans eftir einn og hálfan tíma (ég reikna með að Think Progress hafi ekki logið upp þessari ræðu sem þeir hafa undir höndum!):

Extending hope and opportunity depends on a stable supply of energy that keeps America’s economy running and America’s environment clean. For too long our Nation has been dependent on foreign oil. And this dependence leaves us more vulnerable to hostile regimes, and to terrorists — who could cause huge disruptions of oil shipments … raise the price of oil … and do great harm to our economy.

It is in our vital interest to diversify America’s energy supply — and the way forward is through technology. We must continue changing the way America generates electric power — by even greater use of clean coal technology … solar and wind energy … and clean, safe nuclear power. We need to press on with battery research for plug-in and hybrid vehicles, and expand the use of clean diesel vehicles and biodiesel fuel. We must continue investing in new methods of producing ethanol — using everything from wood chips, to grasses, to agricultural wastes.

We have made a lot of progress, thanks to good policies in Washington and the strong response of the market. Now even more dramatic advances are within reach. Tonight, I ask Congress to join me in pursuing a great goal. Let us build on the work we have done and reduce gasoline usage in the United States by 20 percent in the next 10 years — thereby cutting our total imports by the equivalent of 3/4 of all the oil we now import from the Middle East.

To reach this goal, we must increase the supply of alternative fuels, by setting a mandatory Fuels Standard to require 35 billion gallons of renewable and alternative fuels in 2017 — this is nearly 5 times the current target. At the same time, we need to reform and modernize fuel economy standards for cars the way we did for light trucks — and conserve up to 8.5 billion more gallons of gasoline by 2017.

Achieving these ambitious goals will dramatically reduce our dependence on foreign oil, but will not eliminate it. So as we continue to diversify our fuel supply, we must also step up domestic oil production in environmentally sensitive ways. And to further protect America against severe disruptions to our oil supply, I ask Congress to double the current capacity of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

America is on the verge of technological breakthroughs that will enable us to live our lives less dependent on oil. These technologies will help us become better stewards of the environment — and they will help us to confront the serious challenge of global climate change.  

Forsetinn hefur áður talað um orku og olíu og mikilvægi þess að Bandaríkin gætu sjálf séð sér fyrir allri þessari orku;

SOTU, 1/29/2002: Good jobs also depend on reliable and affordable energy. This Congress must act to encourage conservation, promote technology, build infrastructure, and it must act to increase energy production at home so America is less dependent on foreign oil.

SOTU, 1/28/2003: Our third goal is to promote energy independence for our country, while dramatically improving the environment. … Even more, I ask you to take a crucial step and protect our environment in ways that generations before us could not have imagined.

SOTU, 1/20/2004: Consumers and businesses need reliable supplies of energy to make our economy run — so I urge you to pass legislation to modernize our electricity system, promote conservation, and make America less dependent on foreign sources of energy.

SOTU, 2/2/2005: To keep our economy growing, we also need reliable supplies of affordable, environmentally responsible energy. … I urge Congress to pass legislation that makes America more secure and less dependent on foreign energy.

SOTU, 1/31/2006: Keeping America competitive requires affordable energy. And here we have a serious problem: America is addicted to oil. …. By applying the talent and technology of America, this country can dramatically improve our environment, move beyond a petroleum-based economy, and make our dependence on Middle Eastern oil a thing of the past.

Þetta væri alltsaman bæði gott og blessað ef forsetinn hefði gert eitthvað til þess að láta þessi fögru orð sín öll verða að veruleika. Skv Think Progress:

In September 2006, 70 percent of oil consumed in the United States came from foreign sources, up from 58 percent in 2000.

U.S. dependence on OPEC nations for oil imports “has risen to its highest level in 15 years.”

Despite promises at his 2006 State of the Union address, President Bush’s 2007 budget actually proposed to spend less on energy efficiency, conservation, and renewable energy resources in inflation-adjusted dollars than was appropriated in fiscal year 2001 — $1.176 billion in nominal dollars in both 2001 and 2007.

Vinsældir forsetans hafa hins vegar náð nýjum lægðum, því samkvæmt nýjustu könnun CBS er "approval rating" forsetans 28%, - sem þýðir að innan við þriðjungur kjósenda sé sáttur við hvernig Bush hefur staðið sig í starfi. 64% segjast hins vegar ósátt við frammistöðu forsetans!

M

Athugasemdir

[Jón Steinar Ragnarsson, 25.1.2007 kl. 00:25]

Ég er enn að reyna að rýna í undirliggjandi skilaboð forsetans. Þessi orkustefna er jú 30 árum á eftir siðmenntuðum þjóðum og tímabært að orkubruðlinu ljúki. Því miður gæti þetta þýtt hækkað olíuverð, sem ekki verður vatn á millu hans.  Aðrir orkugjafar, sem hann nefnir eru tæplega byltingakenndir, kjarnorkan einna raunhæfust hvað varðar raforkuframleiðlu.  Aðrar lausnir eru til eins og ég nefni í blogginu mínu "Mannkynsfrelsarinn George W. Bush" en svo stór umbreyting verður varla hrist fram úr erminni á kjörtímabili hans.

Líklegra þykir mér að áhersla hans á orkumál og grundvallar mikilvægi þeirra fyrir sjálfsræði þjóðarinnar, séu einskonar "prelude" að innrás í Íran, eins og fyrri yfirlýsingar hans um orkumál höfðu sama spádómsgildi.  Orðunum Energy og Terroists er óþægilega oft spyrt saman. Einnig er þetta ákall um samdrátt í útgjöldum, væntanlega til að hafa efni á frekari stríðsrekstri. 

Hann minnist ekki einu orði á þau mál, sem eru mest aðkallandi fyrir hinn almenna borgara.  Þeir mega greinilega éta það sem úti frýs.