Bush's $3 trillion budget might not have very many provisions for green technology in it, but, thanks to some clever administration officials, we can gloss over that by saying that the budget itself is a lot greener this year.

In fact, the budget does not physically exist. This makes a tremendous amount of sense, especially considering that the Democratic Congress is about to tear through it, delete, and add like crazy. Previously, this deliberation process created constant need for reprinting after reprinting.

And then there's the 3,000 copies of the 2,200-page tome that are given away to the press and the public every year. Yes, it's a great big waste. But now we can thank the Bush administration for eliminating the paper budget once and for all.

The administration says the move (despite including a Dell Latitude XT Tablet PC so the president can show it off to Congress) actually saves money. And, of course, they let us know exactly how many trees it saves: 480.

Of course, using the market's most expensive Tablet PC as a glorified PDF reader is pretty foolish. But if you want your own copy of the budget, it's never been easier. Just head to www.budget.gov and check the bottom of the page. It's even broken into categories so you don't have to download stuff you don't care about!

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So....
written by Danny Burleson , February 15, 2008

Is he actually just using the expensive Tablet PC solely for showing off the budget, or is that just an assumption?

Y'know, 'cause I can't imagine that a computer like that would be useful for those day to day, country-running operations or anything.

aparently..
written by Mark R. , February 15, 2008

you need to take a look at the energy sections. particularly the Carbon capture and storage, Advanced energy initiatives, environmental clean up and nuclear waste mgmt. and federal energy conservation. I'm sure there are other sections that contain "green" items. Might not be as much as you like but it is there. So don't mislead readers by saying because there are pdfs available its the only reason its green. Your wearing your bias on your sleeve again Hank.

apparently...not
written by Matt , February 18, 2008

I love how he gives 400 million dollars to clean renewable energy and 648 million for research on "advanced coal technologies" and doubles the "strategic petroleum reserves"! Sounds like hanging on to the past instead of looking to the future.
All the things you listed, Mark, are band-aids. Its not the quantity of the green sections that counts. It is the quality. You can clean up and manage nuclear waste as much as you want, but until you stop producing it, there will always be more to clean up tomorrow.

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