COLUMBUS During visit to Ohio, Bush pleads for passage of unified energy bill

The president's speech also covered the war in Iraq.
By JEFF ORTEGA
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
COLUMBUS -- Saying the country needs a unified energy plan, President Bush made a plea Thursday for passage of his energy bill that's mired before Congress.
"We need a comprehensive plan," the president told about 200 people at an aluminum products company in suburban Columbus.
"Resolve your differences," Bush said in an apparent message to Congress.
The president's bill is stuck over House-Senate differences.
Key issues in the bill include proposing to inventory oil and gas resources in off-limits coastal waters, opening an Alaska wildlife refuge to oil drilling, and changing the way ethanol taxes are spent.
Bush said a failure to enact a comprehensive energy bill would impact an otherwise improving national economy.
"By not having enough energy at home, our manufacturing sector is not doing as well as it should be," the president said. "We need more energy production close to home."
Bush encouraged Congress to encourage private investment in the next generation of nuclear energy plants.
Bush also said Congress should encourage investment in the country's aging electricity grid to prevent blackouts such as the ones that plagued several states, including Ohio and parts of Canada, earlier this year.
"We need to modernize our grids so that the lights won't go off in people's homes," the president said in an approximate 16-minute speech that also covered the military conflict in Iraq, the war on terror and the economy.
Ohio as backdrop
Bush chose Central Aluminum Co. in suburban Columbus as the backdrop for his energy remarks because it has been hurt by high energy prices.
Dan Roshon, whose father owns the business, said fluctuating energy prices have hurt business. The company employs about 50 in the Columbus area.
At least one environmental group, however, says the president's energy bill is not the answer.
"We can do better in Ohio," said Bryan Clark, a spokesman for the Sierra Club, Ohio Chapter.
"It's the same failed policy," Clark said at a protest organized by Democrats at the Statehouse.
Others at the protest, that featured about 200, criticized Bush's record on the economy and other issues.
Several bore signs saying: "Bushy -- The Job Slayer," or "Sweep Bush Out of Office."
"I can name a thousand jobs that have disappeared in my area," said Ohio Senate Minority Leader Gregory L. DiDonato, a Dennison Democrat. DiDonato identified companies in his area that have downsized or let employees go over the past few years, including Weirton Steel, Wheeling Pitt Steel and the Timken Co.
& quot;I think the president has done a miserable job the last three years," DiDonato said.
Fund-raiser
Before appearing at the aluminum company, the president attended a $2,000-a-plate fund-raiser at a downtown Columbus hotel.
Brian K. Hicks, a GOP political consultant whose firm is raising money for the Bush re-election campaign, said the event netted about $1.4 million for the Bush campaign. More than 650 people attended the fund-raiser, Hicks said.
Thursday's Columbus trip is the president's 13th to the Buckeye State since his inauguration. One political observer said the frequency of Bush's travel to Ohio shows the state's importance going into next year's presidential election.
"I think Ohio is an important state," said Paul Beck, chairman of the political science department at Ohio State University. "It's a large industrial state with a population that's mainstream American."
"If a candidate plays well here, he or she is going to play well elsewhere," Beck said.
In the 2000 election, then Vice President Al Gore, the Democratic presidential nominee, lost Ohio to Bush by less than 4 percentage points.