This morning I had the displeasure of watching Soledad O'Brien on CNN speaking with another reporter who was traveling with Bush as he escapes his woes at home by traveling abroad. CNN played a clip of Bush in Afghanistan, saying
this:
It's in our interests and the interests of the United States -- it's in the interests of countries around the world that India develop a nuclear power industry because that will help alleviate demand for fossil fuels. And by alleviating demand for fossil fuels, it takes the price off of gasoline at the pump. And so the faster the Indian economy grows, the more fuel they demand; the more fuel they demand, it affects our gas prices and it affects your gas prices.
Of course, the CNN dimwits ignored what Bush actually said. Meanwhile, I spit out my coffee and said "Whaaaaaa...?!?!?!?!?"
More below....
OK, sure, we know Bush has been
jonesing for more nuclear power for a while now. And, yes, its true, George really
wasn't all that successful in the oil industry, so maybe he is clueless...
But...c'mon! Does he really believe what he is saying here, or is he just crazy? Because, the last time I checked, energy plants in India operated on natural gas, and cars in India operated on gasoline. And, correct me if I'm wrong here, but gasoline and natural gas are completely different.
This is what Wikipedia has to say about natural gas:
Natural gas, commonly referred to as gas, is a gaseous fossil fuel consisting primarily of methane. It is found in oil fields and natural gas fields, as well as--in smaller quantities--in coal beds. It should not be confused with gasoline.
OK, seems pretty clear to me. But, maybe George got confused by the fact that natural gas is "commonly referred to as gas."
Assuming he hasn't, what is he talking about? Now, it is true that energy experts (many from the nuclear power industry (ahem!)) have been arguing that high natural gas prices are a good reason to start "goin' nuclear."
But, unless India has developed some sort of new type of automobile engine that is powered by nuclear waste, I don't see how building nuclear plants in India is going to take "the price off of gasiline at the pump."