Democrat governors push US health, energy subsidies

Democratic state governors on Tuesday urged President George W. Bush to adopt their proposal for $51 billion in annual federal subsidies for health care, alternative energy and education, saying it would improve America’s global economic competitiveness.

On the energy front, the Democratic governors’ plan would divert $2.6 billion in U.S. subsidies to oil companies to develop alternative energy sources such as coal gasification, wind and solar power. Rendell called for a “Manhattan Project” effort to develop such technologies, a reference to the massive U.S. effort to produce an atomic bomb during World War II. It also would require that 25 percent of the federal government’s 600,000 vehicles be equipped with hybrid technology — which it estimates would cut oil imports by 1 million barrels a year and help make fuel-efficient hybrid gasoline-electric cars more affordable.

yahoo