http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/02/20030206- ...

In his State of the Union address, President Bush announced a $1.2 billion hydrogen fuel initiative to reverse America's growing dependence on foreign oil by developing the technology for commercially viable hydrogen-powered fuel cells to power cars, trucks, homes and businesses with no pollution or greenhouse gases. The hydrogen fuel initiative will include $720 million in new funding over the next five years to develop the technologies and infrastructure to produce, store, and distribute hydrogen for use in fuel cell vehicles and electricity generation. Combined with the FreedomCAR (Cooperative Automotive Research) initiative, President Bush is proposing a total of $1.7 billion over the next five years to develop hydrogen-powered fuel cells, hydrogen infrastructure and advanced automotive technologies.

In December, President Bush signed the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007, which responded to his "Twenty in Ten" challenge in last year's State of the Union Address to improve vehicle fuel economy and increase alternative fuels.  

The Renewable Fuels Mandate will increase the use of renewable fuels by 500 percent - requiring fuel producers to supply at least 36 billion gallons of renewable fuel in the year 2022.

Since 2001, ethanol production has quadrupled from 1.6 billion gallons in 2000 to an estimated 6.4 billion gallons in 2007, with the vast majority coming from corn.  In 2005, the United States became the world's leading ethanol producer, and last year, the U.S. accounted for nearly half of worldwide ethanol production.

The Administration is also investing in next generation biofuels such as cellulosic ethanol.  This can be made from wood chips, switch grass, and other agriculture products.  With the President's 2009 Budget, the Department of Energy has dedicated about $1 billion since 2001 to develop technologies that can make cellulosic ethanol cost-competitive.  Since the President took office, the projected cost of cellulosic ethanol has dropped by more than 60 percent.  

Last year, the U.S. produced about 450 million gallons of biodiesel - up 80 percent from 2006.  Today, there are more that 650 biodiesel fueling stations, and hundreds of fleet operators use biodiesel to fuel their trucks.  Every year, more Americans are realizing the benefits of biodiesel, which can produce fuel from soybeans and other vegetable oils, including waste products like recycled cooking grease.  

Over the last five years, the U.S. Government has invested about $1.2 billion in hydrogen research and development to help bring hydrogen fuel cell vehicles to market.  These vehicles use no gasoline at all, and emit clean, pure water.  

If nuclear energy was so safe, why do the new facilities need to be shielded from future lawsuits?

Because the oil and gas lobby, especially the oil and gas tax revenue lobby, has so much money.

Not that that's news to you.

How shall the car gain nuclear cachet?

It ain't exactly like the nuclear lobby is gutter-poor either, though.  They're obviously paid well enough that they managed to get the plants protection from lawsuits in the first place, didn't they?

Certainly not gutter-poor indeed.

-David Ahlport

The main people harmed by uranium mining are Native Americans, so of course no one ever mentions mining when they talk about nuclear power because only white people count in this country, and even then only if they have enough money.

Nuclear anything is very environmentally destructive just due to the mining of uranium, to say nothing of the radioactivity nuclear projects emit and the permanent radioactive waste they create.  Technology alone will not adequately reduce or eliminate environmental or ecological harms caused by consumption of artificial energy.  A significant reduction in demand coupled with better technology, like local solar and wind, will do that.