Getting New Yorkers into electric-powered cars that would take them on their daily commute still is years away, according to a White House spokeswoman, even though President Bush said he expects it "relatively quickly."
Spokeswoman Dana Perino today responded to a question from Les Kinsolving, WND's correspondent at the White House. He asked: "In his speech to the Economic Club in New York City on Friday … the president said: I firmly believe people in New York City are going to be driving automobiles on battery relatively quickly, and it's not going to be like a golf cart, it will be a full-sized vehicle you'll be driving in. And my question, since that was on Friday, you can now tell us whether 'relatively quickly' means months or how many estimated years, can't you?"
"Well, the Energy Department is working closely with industry on that, in terms of the incentives they have for battery technology. But it is exciting that we'll be able to drive our cars about 40 miles without having to stop for any type of traditional fuel – but it's going to take a few years," she said.
"'A few years' – how many, would you estimate?" Kinsolving asked.
"A few," she said.
It was at the recent Washington International Renewable Energy Conference when Bush said the United States need sto "get off" oil to lower dependence on foreign oil suppliers.
He said electric cars would help with difficulties such as the current price of oil, ranging about $100 a barrel, which has sent the costs of heating homes and traveling skyrocketing.
In a second question, Kinsolving asked: "At Hillsdale College, veteran journalist William Tucker noted that 50 percent of our electricity comes from coal and 20 percent from nuclear reactors, which percentages should, he contended, be reversed, as in France, but the main opposition, he said, is public fear. And my question: Does the president support or oppose such an expansion of nuclear power?"
"Where have you been, Les? Yes, do does – extensively," Perino said. "He definitely supports increases in nuclear power."
On the White House website, there are two references to nuclear power plants in the last year, one when the president noted the nation hasn't built any such plants "in a long time," and that his administration is working to eliminate barriers to such plants.
The subject also was documented when Bush toured the Browns Ferry nuclear power plant in Alabama, where officials noted about 20 percent of the electricity in the U.S. comes from nuclear power plants.
The White House noted the federal government was making available loans to companies with such plans, and it is hoped by the end of this decade, construction on new plants will have begun.
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