Democrats In $7 Billion Plan to Green US

The Democrat-controlled House of Representatives wants to spend almost $7bn in the coming year to reduce the nation’s enormous carbon footprint, reports the Independent. This has put it on a collision course with the White House, which still remains in denial about climate change.

A major clash is expected between the White House and Congress in the autumn, with President George Bush sceptical of the Democrats’ newfound enthusiasm for the environment. The best way to reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil is to drill for more, he believes.

The oil industry is keen to open up vast new areas off Alaska’s coast for drilling. The rising temperatures, brought on by global warming, have made this a possibility, which the industry wants to exploit.

But, pressed by an increasingly environmentally aware public, Democratic politicians are pushing green initiatives. Energy bills before the US House and Senate call for billions of dollars in new spending on a programme to train workers for the green-collar economy. They envision jobs for tens of thousands of solar-panel installers and wind-turbine erectors among initiatives that will reduce America’s oil dependence.

Enthusiasts foresee a ballooning of construction work on a green buildings, organic farming and solar-panel manufacturing. The green-collar economy is already booming. Including renewable energy and clean technology it is already, by some accounts, the fifth-largest market sector in the United States

Frank O’Donnell, of Clean Air Watch, said: “The danger is that the three sacred cows of the US economy, coal, cars and corn, will hijack the new mood of environmental awareness.”

And don’t forget the power of the Big “O”: Oil.