Bush Releases Energy Plan.(President George W. Bush)(Brief Article)

WASHINGTON--Setting the stage for what promises to be a major political battle, President Bush rolled out his administration's much-anticipated energy plan on May 17 with a series of campaign style events, even as Democrats and environmentalists planned their own media blitz.

As had been expected, the plan focuses on traditional energy sources, particularly fossil fuels and nuclear power, along with tax incentives and relaxing or streamlining the permitting process for energy projects. Nevertheless, mentions of conservation measures and alternate fuels appear to have been carefully sprinkled throughout the plan.

Critics, however, were not appeased and were swift to criticize the plan as slanted toward fossil fuel and nuclear interests at the expense of public health and the environment. "This plan is imbalanced--it provides lip service to energy efficiency and saves all its heavy lifting for increasing energy supplies," said David M. Nemtzow, president, Alliance to Save Energy.

"The Bush-Cheney energy plan contains relatively few concrete proposals that will save energy," said Howard Geller, former executive director of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.

The plan, authored by the vice president and a small task force, would provide $2 billion over 20 years to fund clean-coal technology research. Close to half of the nation's electricity is currently generated by coal-fired plants.

Bush's plan proposes to review the potential for oil and natural gas development on federal lands and repeats his insistence on opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to exploration and production.

The ...