Bush Threatens Energy Bill Veto

The White House has weighed in on the energy bill being debated in Congress, and the Bush Administration didn't have much nice to say -- particularly because the bill makes no provision for new domestic gas and oil exploration. Bush threatened a veto. The debate over the country's energy future is increasingly falling along these lines: energy independence alone versus promoting the use of renewable, non polluting energy sources. While the two goals aren't mutually exclusive, energy independence alone could increase the use of non renewable fuels that come with a heavy pollution burden -- like coal, which is cheap and abundant but carbon-heavy and mined with often destructive techniques, and new oil and gas reserves that could be tapped in fragile ecosystems. As the debate over energy rages in Congress, and the 2008 presidential candidates lay out energy policies, it will be important to perceive the subtleties in the phrase "energy independence," according to a story in the June 13 Los Angeles Times.