Bush visits energy lab

President says budget mistake caused recent layoffs at Golden facility

Gargi Chakrabarty, Rocky Mountain News

Published February 22, 2006 at midnight

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GOLDEN - President Bush on Tuesday blamed a budget mix-up for the layoffs at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory earlier this month.

The jobs were reinstated by the federal government a day before his visit to the lab.

"I recognize that there has been some interesting - let me say - mixed signals when it comes to funding," Bush said during a speech Tuesday morning at NREL.

He said the issue is whether good intentions are met with actual dollars spent.

"Part of the issue we face, unfortunately, is that there are sometimes decisions made, but as a result of the appropriations process, the money may not end up where it was supposed to have gone," he said.

The president's visit to NREL capped a three-state visit in two days to talk about energy. He was in Wisconsin and Michigan on Monday.

NREL employs scientists, academics and researchers - and often collaborates with the private sector - to find alternatives to oil that are affordable yet dependable sources of energy. It employs 1,100 people, including contractors.

Bush received a private tour of the facility before participating in an hourlong panel discussion on energy conservation and efficiency.

Wearing a blue NREL hard hat and safety glasses during the tour, Bush looked at samples of corn stover, corn stalks, switch grass and poplar trees that were displayed in glass jars.

He even took out a piece of poplar wood to see what it felt like, and he sniffed a bottle of clean-smelling ethanol.

"He wanted to know three things," NREL director Dan Arvizu said later. "First, is there enough biomass to make a significant difference in fuel supply. Second, how much energy goes in to produce cellulosic ethanol and how much energy do we get out. Third, how cost effective is it."

Arvizu said there was enough biomass to keep up with fuel demand and that ethanol gives five times the energy it takes to produce it. Lastly, the cost of cellulosic ethanol produced in labs currently is $2.20 a gallon, but NREL hopes to cut it in half in five years.

During the tour Bush also praised the lab and said its employees are doing "great work" - a sentiment he reiterated during a speech to about 200 lab workers and guests at the event.

"My message to those who work here is we want you to know how important your work is; we appreciate what you're doing; and we expect you to keep doing it, and we want to help you keep doing it," the president said.

Bush also talked about his vow to break the nation's "addiction to oil," adding that higher oil prices during the past year are acting "like hidden taxes" on U.S. consumers that can be removed only by spending money on research and developing alternatives to imported petroleum.

"If we can change the way we drive our cars and our trucks, we can change our addiction to oil," Bush said, urging Congress to approve a permanent tax credit for research and development by businesses.

Bush's visit to Golden came at an awkward time for NREL, which is trying to rehire the 32 employees it laid off two weeks ago because of a $28 million budget cut it sustained in the current fiscal year.

On Monday, the Department of Energy - which owns NREL - gave it $5 million to help restore the jobs. But some of the terminated employees have decided not to come back, said Bob Noun, NREL's deputy associate director.

Also, the remaining $23 million budget shortfall means the lab's canceled contracts and subcontracts with private partners will stay in place.

"We appreciate having the (NREL) jobs back," said U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, D-Eldorado Springs. "But the question is: Is this a photo op and the Bush administration will move on to other challenges? Or will it stay on the course and put its energy and time (on renewable energy technologies) as he put in today?"

Udall said Bush holds "the ace of spades" when it comes to garnering more funds for the lab.

Other critics of the Bush administration's energy policies say the president's proposals are modest and that Bush is promoting renewable energy because polls show his job approval numbers are being weighed down by Americans' concern about high utility bills and the price of gasoline.

"The president is talking a good game, but his budget doesn't back it up," said Philip Clapp, president of the National Environmental Trust.

Arvizu, the lab's director, said he doesn't expect any more money from the federal government in the current fiscal year, although he is optimistic about 2007. The lab has suffered budget cuts for three years in a row.

U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar said later Tuesday the president's visit to NREL will bring enough national attention to the lab so it receives more funding in the future.

He said "renewable energy is an important component of the country's national security" and is "an issue that transcends partisan politics."

"For all of us in Colorado, we should welcome the president's initiative with respect to renewable energy and new technology," Salazar said. "My hope is that what happens here in this state is that we come together to create the renewable-energy capital of the United States of America."

chakrabartyg@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-2976.

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