Bush Urges Funding for Alternative Energy

Today the President spoke at Johnson Control and as the Washington Post reports it is, "a company that is working on the next generation of hybrids that can be plugged in at home to recharge a new line of batteries that will further decrease gasoline use and pollution. The company's lithium-ion batteries are designed to provide two or three times as much power as today's nickel-metal-hydride batteries, and the potential to reduce battery weight by 50 percent, according to Johnson Controls."

From the Washington Post:

President Bush visited one of the nation's leading producers of energy-efficient technologies on Monday and hailed the company's innovations as proof that the United States can one day wean itself off foreign oil. Speaking at Johnson Controls, a Fortune 500 company that produces batteries for hybrid vehicles and energy-saving devices for buildings, Bush said, "In order to seize the moment, this country needs to remain technologically advanced." Reiterating his belief that the nation is "addicted to foreign oil," the president renewed his call for increased spending on science research, development and education and greater government incentives for the makers and users of alternative sources of energy.

Click here to read the article.

Nicholas Kristof wrote a column in the New York Times on February 5th that talked about a California company that that converted a regular Prius to a plug-in hybrid, which can now get over 100 miles per gallon. The company is called CalCars and can be found by clicking here.

It's worth considering how human rights issues can be linked to resource conflicts and access to a clean environment. For example, the Center for World indigenous Studies has a map that shows the relationship between indigenous peoples across the globe along with resources and armed conflict (If anyone has a better map that I can link to, please send me the link.)

--Tom Hayes