AP

Thursday, President Bush visited Franklinton to promote alternative fuels and energy conservation.

Despite the President's rhetoric, his record on energy independence is abysmal. Since Bush took office, America has become more dependent on foreign oil, pollution levels have skyrocketed, transportation costs have nearly doubled, and global warming has gotten worse.

North Carolina Democratic Party Chair Jerry Meek said, "President Bush is years late and billions of dollars short when he talks about energy conservation. This is about as credible as Ronald McDonald telling kids not to eat junk food. While Democrats are demonstrating real leadership, the Bush Administration is still questioning climate change. Unlike the Bush rhetoric, Democrats in Congress have a comprehensive plan to make our country energy independent by the year 2020. The hard working people of North Carolina are looking for leadership, not more slick talk from an administration filled with oilmen."

The Bush Record on Energy Independence:

America has Become More Dependent on Foreign Oil Since Bush Became President. Today, America depends on imported oil for 66 percent of our oil consumption, compared to 58 percent when President Bush took office. America spent $236 billion on imports of oil in 2005 and spent $230.8 billion in just the first 10 months of 2006. [Energy Information Administration (EIA); U.S. Census Bureau Federal Trade Division]

America's Carbon Dioxide Emissions Have Skyrocketed, Concentrations are at Extremely Dangerous Levels. Annual U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide have increased by 214 million tons since 2001 to well over 7 billion metric tons. Analysis of ice cores show that current atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide-380 parts per million-are 27 percent higher than the highest levels found in the last 650,000 years. Concentrations are likely higher now than at any time during the past 20 million years. [Scientific American Magazine 11/28/05; IPCC 2001]

Transportation Costs for Families Have Nearly Doubled Since 2001. The average household with children spent about $3,687 on fuel in 2006, an increase of 94 percent over 2001 costs. [Energy Information Administration, Household Vehicle Energy Use: Latest Data and Trends 11/05; Short Term Energy Outlook, 1/9/07]

Increasing Emissions Made 2006 Warmest Year on Record in the Continental United States, Capping an "Unprecedented Nine-Year Warming Streak." "Last year was the warmest in the continental United States in the past 112 years -- capping a nine-year warming streak 'unprecedented in the historical record' that was driven in part by the burning of fossil fuels, the government reported yesterday. Average temperatures nationwide in 2006 were 2.2 degrees Fahrenheit higher than the mean temperatures nationwide for the 20th century, the agency [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration] said." [Washington Post, 1/10/07]

President Bush's FY 2007 Budget Proposed to Spend Less on Energy Efficiency, Conservation, and Renewable Energy Resources in Inflation-Adjusted Dollars Than Was Appropriated in Fiscal Year 2001-- $1.176 Billion in Nominal Dollars in Both 2001 and 2007. [FY 2007 Budget]

President Bush Did Not Adequately Fund Renewable Energy Research. "In fact, this year's energy efficiency and renewable energy portion of the budget is almost identical to, but slightly smaller than, the last year of the previous administration. And when inflation is factored in it amounts to a decrease of more than $130 million." [National Resources Defense Council, Habitual Offender: President's Budget Continues Persistent Cuts for Environmental Protections, 2/8/06]

Energy Conservation Is Difficult When Funding For Energy Conservation R&D Has Declined Every Year Since 2001. "The cheapest, cleanest and most reliable way to increase energy supply is energy efficiency. The FY2007 budget, however, proposes an appalling 18 percent cut to federal energy efficiency programs." [National Resources Defense Council, Habitual Offender: President's Budget Continues Persistent Cuts for Environmental Protections, 2/8/06]

President Bush's FY 2007 Budget Paid for Increased Funding for Development of Solar and Wind Technologies by Eliminating Funding for Research into Two Other Renewable Sources, Geothermal and Hydropower. [FY 2007 Budget]

President Bush Slashed Funding From Some Renewable Energy Research and Development. "The budget request would eliminate the $23 million geothermal R&D program, and also eliminate the dwindling hydropower R&D program." [American Association for the Advancement of Science, DOE Science Gains 14 percent; Energy R&D Slides in 2007 Budget, 2/21/06]

President Bush Slashed Funding From Vehicle Efficiency Programs. "The FY2007 budget fails to provide adequate funding for efficient technologies in transportation and instead cuts funding for the Vehicle Technologies Program by $16 million or 8.8 percent to $166 million." [National Resources Defense Council, Habitual Offender: President's Budget Continues Persistent Cuts for Environmental Protections, 2/8/06]

President Bush's FY 2007 Budget Provided Only $29 Million Increase for Biomass Research for Cellulosic Ethanol. [FY 2007 Budget]

President Bush Has Failed to Fully Commit Financially to Energy Independence. "'He's thinking the right things, but it's kind of like John Kennedy announcing we're going to go into space and we've got $1 billion to do it,' said Amy Myers Jaffe, an energy specialist at Rice University's James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy. With such a limited commitment, she said, 'we'd never have gotten to the moon.'" [Los Angeles Times, 2/2/06]

Reports of Climate Funding Need to Be "Clearer and More Complete." The Administration claims that the federal government will have dedicated over $29 billion to climate programs from 2001 through 2006, more than any other nation. This figure includes $2.9 billion in funding from Fiscal Year 2001, which was enacted before President Bush took office. The Administration has made reports on its climate research funding inconsistent with prior reports and confusing, and determining actual funding levels has proven difficult. The GAO found that it was "unclear whether funding had changed as much as reported" because federal reports on climate change funding were unclear and incomplete. [White House, "Setting the Record Straight," 7/11/06; CRS Report RL32147; GAO-05-461]

Funding Cuts Are Threatening Climate Studies. "The government's ability to understand and predict hurricanes, drought, and climate changes of all kinds is in danger because of deep cuts facing many Earth satellite programs and major delays in launching some of its most important new instruments. The two-year study by the National Academy of Sciences determined that NASA's earth science budget has declined 30 percent since 2000. As a result, the panel said, the United States will not have the scientific information it needs in the years ahead to analyze severe storms and changes in Earth's climate unless programs are restored and funding made available." [Washington Post 1/16/07]