State of the Union heavy on energy security, healthcare

Manufacturing News, Source : The Manufacturer US
Published : 24 Jan 2007 13:45

The President's State of the Union address last evening touched upon eight policy initiatives, two of which directly affect US industry and employers. While the address was heavily focused on support for the Iraq war, Bush also outlined initiatives in both energy security and healthcare.

National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) President John Engler applauded the address, saying “It is abundantly clear we need a comprehensive national policy on energy,” Engler said. “Sky-high energy costs are a major impediment to our ability to compete in the global marketplace. We need to increase access to domestic energy sources, especially natural gas, even as we accelerate research and development of alternative fuels and expansion of nuclear power options.

The press is largely unenthusiastic. The Wall Street said of the President's goals that "the details may prove less grand than the headline aspirations, and less achievable than their popularity suggests." For example, Bush called for a 20 percent reduction of gasoline usage in ten years, his "20 in Ten" initiative. But that 20 percent is not off todays levels - rather, off projected levels. This would mandate for a fivefold increase in the production of alternative fuels like ethanol. The New York Times lamented that but the proposals were modest and perhaps less achievable than those Bush made a year ago when he said the nation was “addicted to oil.”

Bush further called for increasing vehicle fuel-efficiency standards by four percent per year, or about one mile per galon, starting in 2010 for cars and 2012 for trucks.

Finally, bush seeks to double the amount of oil in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to about 1.5 billion barrels of oil, over the next 20 years.

If the goals seem--well, slow and meager--they are far more achievable than the goals set in 2006.

Bush's healthcare proposals have met with better reception. The proposals would reduce taxes to employers for healthcare, and make healthcare more affordable for families and individuals to purchase outside of their employment. NAM's Engler was enthusiastic, saying “In particular, his focus on making health care more accessible and affordable is admirable. We also need an aggressive transition to greater reliance on information technology and transparency to reduce costs and mistakes in our health care system.”

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