[h=3]By RYAN TRACY[/h]President Barack Obama will use a speech at a government laboratory in Illinois Friday to urge Congress to back a $2 billion trust fund boosting advanced-vehicle research, according to administration officials.
Mr. Obama first announced his support for the proposal during his State of the Union speech last month. The idea has elements that appeal to lawmakers in both parties: It would take the proceeds from increased offshore oil and gas production and use them to pay for research into technologies that would make vehicles less dependent on oil.
Many lawmakers from states on the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico favor more drilling, and funding research into electric cars, natural-gas vehicles and advanced plant fuels could attract broad support.
But the idea could get hung up in a debate over how much offshore drilling the Obama administration is allowing.
Administration officials, speaking to reporters Thursday, said the president envisioned a trust fund formed with $2 billion set aside over 10 years. The funds would come from new royalties paid by companies that extract oil and gas from underneath U.S. waters.
The administration expects to collect more royalties than it currently does because changes to federal permitting will increase production, "not necessarily because of increased drilling" in areas that aren't already open to exploration, one official said.
That piece of the proposal could run into opposition from Republicans, who want more drilling in areas the president hasn't opened, such as off the Atlantic Coast.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, the top Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, has also backed the trust fund idea. But she wants to fund it with "new production," a spokesman for the senator said Thursday, adding that there are "plenty of resources that haven't been developed."
Mr. Obama will be speaking at Argonne National Laboratory Friday afternoon.
Write to Ryan Tracy at [email protected]
Mr. Obama first announced his support for the proposal during his State of the Union speech last month. The idea has elements that appeal to lawmakers in both parties: It would take the proceeds from increased offshore oil and gas production and use them to pay for research into technologies that would make vehicles less dependent on oil.
Many lawmakers from states on the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico favor more drilling, and funding research into electric cars, natural-gas vehicles and advanced plant fuels could attract broad support.
But the idea could get hung up in a debate over how much offshore drilling the Obama administration is allowing.
Administration officials, speaking to reporters Thursday, said the president envisioned a trust fund formed with $2 billion set aside over 10 years. The funds would come from new royalties paid by companies that extract oil and gas from underneath U.S. waters.
The administration expects to collect more royalties than it currently does because changes to federal permitting will increase production, "not necessarily because of increased drilling" in areas that aren't already open to exploration, one official said.
That piece of the proposal could run into opposition from Republicans, who want more drilling in areas the president hasn't opened, such as off the Atlantic Coast.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, the top Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, has also backed the trust fund idea. But she wants to fund it with "new production," a spokesman for the senator said Thursday, adding that there are "plenty of resources that haven't been developed."
Mr. Obama will be speaking at Argonne National Laboratory Friday afternoon.
Write to Ryan Tracy at [email protected]