Reaction to Bush's energy plan

Richard Gephardt

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Reaction to President Bush's energy plan came quickly Thursday in Washington, with most immediate reaction coming from Democrats. Here are some highlights:

House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt, D-Missouri: "It's slick. It's full of pretty, colored pictures," Gephardt said. He described Bush's plan as looking like the "Exxon-Mobil annual report."

Rep. James Hansen, R-Utah: "The White House wisely recognized that this energy challenge is a complex problem that will require a diverse, complicated solution. We didn't get there overnight. We won't fix it overnight. And the only way to fix it long-term is including increased production and delivery of all forms of energy."

Lee Walczak, Business Week magazine: "I think what George Bush is doing with energy is very similar to what he did with tax policy. He is, in a way that is politically quite expedient, taking a problem (and) elevating that problem into a crisis. And because of that leverage, it allows him to ask for more than he would ask for from the political system. In the case of energy, he is trying to fundamentally change the balance in this country from the environmentalists and the slow-development people to the energy producers, who happen to be his political supporters."

Frank Murkowski

Sen. Frank Murkowski, R-Alaska: "This administration is going to work with this Congress to do everything possible -- everything possible -- to address this situation in the country in a positive manner. What we're going to do in the Energy Committee is we're going to promptly hold hearings on the legislative recommendations in this document. We're going to mark it up and we're going to move it out."

Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-South Dakota: "President Bush today unveiled the energy policy that he and Vice President Cheney have been developing in secret."

Daschle argued that Bush's fiscal 2002 federal budget provides more of a glimpse into his plans than his energy plan. Bush, he said would cut the federal government's conservation budget by 28 percent, and its research and development budget by even more.

Congressman Billy Tauzin

Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-Louisiana: "Price caps would would have affect of lengthening the [California] blackouts, because states won't be encouraged to sell their extra electricty at a lower price." (Chat transcript)

Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa: Environmental degradation can be avoided, Harkin said, by further exploiting lands already designated for drilling, and by boosting production of alternative fuels, such as ethanol. "Ethanol will add 20 billion gallons of fuel to our supply this year alone," said Harkin. Ethanol can be made from corn, a key agriculture product in Harkin's state.

Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minnesota: Wellstone, called on Bush to use his office to push oil and fuel producers into voluntarily capping their prices, and to pressure the OPEC oil cartel to boost daily production. "If you want to do something for consumers, that is what you have to do as president," Wellstone said.