House bill mixed bag for Bush energy proposals

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The House of Representatives late on
Wednesday passed an appropriations bill that funds President
George W. Bush’s plan to research clean-burning fuel sources
like ethanol, but slashed funding for a Bush plan to recycle
radioactive waste.

The $30 billion energy and water appropriations bill for
the 2007 fiscal year includes funding for Bush’s “Advanced
Energy Initiative,” his State of the Union plan to reduce U.S.
oil import dependence through research into wind, solar and
other home-grown energy sources like ethanol.

However, the bill would fund only half of Bush’s request
for the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, a global plan to
recycle nuclear waste. The House bill sets funding at $120
million — $130 million less than Bush requested.

The bill now goes to the Senate, which has yet to draft its
bill. Both chambers must agree on language before the funding
can be enacted.

An amendment sponsored by Massachusetts Democrat Ed Markey
to cut funding by another $40 million was voted down.

U.S. Energy Secretary Sam Bodman said he will “continue to
encourage members to help us strengthen our nation’s energy
security by fully funding” the nuclear recycling program.

Many House lawmakers have expressed reservations about the
program, saying that the administration has not yet given
enough details on how it will work.

The bill also includes $545 million to fund the
administration’s plan to store nuclear waste from U.S. nuclear
power plants in an underground repository at Yucca Mountain in
Nevada. That would be a 20 percent funding increase from 2006
levels, if enacted.