AEA awards George W. Bush with first 2011 “Lump of Coal”

WASHINGTON D.C. — Leading off the 2011 list of naughty policymakers, politicians, and other professionals who have demonstrated exemplary failures to understand or promote policies that generate affordable American energy is this year’s first recipient, the 43rd president of the United States, the Honorable George Walker Bush of Texas.

“When it comes to offering opportunities for American energy exploration, President Bush failed to meet the standard set by Bill Clinton, of all people.  In fact, President Bush offered nearly 50 percent less onshore acreage for development than did President Clinton,” AEA President Tom Pyle noted as he announced the award.

“And every time American consumers go looking for good old-fashioned incandescent light bulbs, only to leave the store with a ridiculous looking spiral compact fluorescent bulb, they should thank President Bush who signed the 822 page lightbulb ban into law back in 2007.  Not only do they light less, but they cost more.

“The entirety of his administration was marked by numerous energy policy failures.  From renewable fuel mandates and increased ethanol subsidies, to a refusal to eliminate the executive moratorium on offshore drillinguntil more than 7 years into his administration, to signing energy bills filled with pork-barrel projects and Solyndra-style loan guarantees, President Bush failed throughout two terms in office to unleash the full power of America’s affordable energy sources.

“And lest we forget, it was President Bush who told the American people we were ‘addicted to oil,’ and then increased funding at the Department of Energy for biofuel research and battery-powered cars.  On almost every front, the energy policies of President Bush paved the way for his successor’s taxpayer-funded green energy glut.”

The American Energy Alliance previewed yesterday the inaugural 2011 “Lump of Coal Awards” for energy stupidity, which will be announced December 8-23, 2011.  To learn more about coal’s important place in America’s energy future, click here.  To learn the facts about coal production in the United States, click here.

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