1. ENERGY POLICY:
Obama to roll out plans for funding transportation R&D during lab visit
President Obama will urge Congress today to establish an "energy security trust" that would spend federal revenue from oil and gas production on research in low-carbon transportation technologies, an idea the administration believes has bipartisan backing on Capitol Hill. The plan, which Obama unveiled in his State of the Union address last month, would provide $2 billion over the next 10 years for research in advanced vehicle technology, including cars powered by electricity, homegrown biofuels, biocells and domestic natural gas, White House officials said yesterday.