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“Tonight I am proposing $1.2 billion in research funding so that America can lead the world in developing clean, hydrogen-powered automobiles,” the former Texas oil man said, not quite a Nixon-goes-to-China moment, since it actually hurts no corporation at all, but still, at least he could promise “to make our air significantly cleaner, and our country much less dependent on foreign sources of energy.” Our air presumably will get a lot dirtier first: No hydrogen cars are likely to make it on the road in the next decade, and Bush is no fan of stricter fuel-efficiency standards.

Salon’s coverage of the State of the Union address