Further thoughts on the SotU...

So two of the big domestic policy announcements last nite were a dedication to research for alternative fuels, and some proposals to increase funding for scientific research.

A series of responses:

A: This isn't the first time he's proposed alternative fuel funding, is it? I'm pretty sure I recall an SotU from, oh, a few years back where he dedicated himself to promoting hydrogen fuel cell cars... haven't seen a lot of work on that, have we? And as has been pointed out elsewhere (too lazy to look up the link), he's mentioned reducing depending on foreign oil in every State of the Union to date, with no headway.

B: I understand the importance of funding research into alternative fuels, and in fact applaud it. But there's a lot of stuff already out there. Couldn't we get a bit of funding for implementation? Greater encouraging of hybrid electric cars, tax credits for home solar panels, that sort of stuff could go a long way. Not that any of that is in the spoken interests of the oil companies and power companies he's beholden to...

C: If Bush is seriously trying to reshape himself as the Science President, I would have to hope it goes better than his attempts to become the Education President, the Balanced Budget President, the Wartime President, or even the No-Dependency-on-Foreign-Oil President. As a research scientist, I'm sort of worried at his decision to help out our field. Based on administrative incompetence to date, I fear he could run us into the ground.