Ohio News | Article published Friday, October 31, 2003
Bush plugs energy plan in Ohio
$2,000-a-plate fund-raiser nets $1.4M for war chest

By JIM PROVANCE and JAMES DREW
BLADE COLUMBUS BUREAU

COLUMBUS - President Bush used Ohio, the possible origin of the worst power blackout in U.S. history, as the backdrop yesterday to push for congressional passage of his controversial energy plan.

"You might remember what happened last summer. I certainly do," he told an invitation-only crowd at Central Aluminum Co. near Columbus in his 13th visit to Ohio.

"That ought to be a signal that we need to modernize the electricity grid," he said. "The bill we’re trying to get out of Congress understands that."

On Aug. 14, 50 million Americans and Canadians lost electricity when the grid that connects power companies across state lines failed. What caused the blackouts remains undetermined, but evidence has pointed to troubles in FirstEnergy’s territory in northeast Ohio.

Mr. Bush’s visit to the 50-employee, family-owned manufacturer of aluminum products was a late addition to what was otherwise another leg on a re-election campaign fund-raising trip. Earlier, Mr. Bush spoke at a $2,000-per-person luncheon at a downtown Columbus hotel, adding $1.4 million to what was already a record $82 million campaign war chest.

The President’s energy plan passed the U.S. House and Senate in differing forms only to stall in conference committee amid disputes over opening an Alaskan wildlife refuge to oil drilling, off-shore oil exploration, and ethanol taxation.

Gov. Bob Taft, who hosted yesterday’s fund-raiser, and Ohio’s congressional delegation have lobbied for an end to the so-called "ethanol penalty," which they maintain punishes Ohio and other heavy users of the corn-derived, cleaner-burning gasoline additive.

A portion of the ethanol taxes collected at the pump is diverted from the highway trust fund to help balance the federal budget, resulting in fewer highway dollars for Ohio.

Emboldened by new numbers showing that the economic recovery appeared to accelerate in the third quarter, Mr. Bush said reliable energy is the next step in spurring job creation.

"[Central Aluminum] spends about 30 percent more on natural gas this year than it did last year," he said. "That’s a cost that makes it hard to expand the work force."

He called for investing in nuclear energy as well as renewable solar, wind, and hydrogen power, and empowering federal authorities to intervene when the siting of electric transmission lines is blocked at the local level.

About 50 members of the Ohio chapter of the Sierra Club, wearing T-shirts with the message "Another Ohio voter for Clean Air," joined other protesters outside the hotel where the fund-raiser took place.

"We can’t drill, dig, and destroy our way out of the energy crisis," said Bryan Clark, program coordinator.

He predicted that if the federal government invested in renewable energy, Ohio would gain 13,500 jobs over the next 17 years.

Chad Kister, 33, of Athens and author of a book about the need to preserve the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, said a modest improvement in vehicle fuel efficiency would "save three times as much oil as what would come from the arctic refuge."

But Pat Melton, a 21-year-old political science senior and chairman of the Ohio State University College Republicans, said drilling for oil can be done within the refuge with "minimal effect on the environment."

"It’s tundra," he said. "There’s not much up there."

"We are aggressively striking the terrorists in Iraq," he said. "We will defeat them there so that we do not have to face them in our own country."

A few hours before the fund-raiser, about 100 Democrats and union members gathered outside the Statehouse, many holding signs calling the President "Bushy the Job Slayer."

About 25 people protested Mr. Taft’s opposition to a bill to allow law-abiding citizens to carry concealed guns that doesn’t have the support of law enforcement.