Thursday, February 7, 2002
The oil president
backs fuel cells?Because it has been a long time coming, don't blame me if I'm a little skeptical of President Bush's backing for a plan to develop hydrogen fuel cells.
Don't blame me if I find it hard to believe that a politician is supporting something that flies in the face of years of successful oil lobbies for one of America's most lucrative industries.
Don't blame me if I'm skeptical when a politician says he is willing to support a project that could diminish the production of deadly greenhouse gases that are the consequence of burning fossil fuels, and so clean that the only waste product is water.
Perhaps all the conflict we've had in the Middle East in recent years has finally given Americans enough resolve to demand that we break our dependency on that region's oil.
The president can't just be paying lip service, in an attempt to reach the liberal, "tree-hugging" audience, can he? I think -- and hope -- he realizes he would have too much to lose by trying something like that.
--Ben Henry