Obama's energy plan may be curbed but not halted

By Tom Doggett

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Barack Obama promises a bold energy plan to develop green technology, slash oil imports from unfriendly nations and tax more of the profits of oil companies, but the cost of the Wall Street bailout and an expected U.S. recession may impede his efforts.

Obama said as much during the first presidential debate when he said he may have to scale back on his green plan.

"I'm not willing to give up the need to do it, but there may be individual components of it that we can't do," he said.

A key part of Obama's energy plan is a $150 billion fund that would invest in clean energy over the next 10 years and create 5 million jobs in the process.

Despite Obama's sweeping win on Wednesday, that might be a lofty goal given the $700 billion already committed to rescue Wall Street, the drop in tax revenue from a weak economy and the sharp decline in gasoline prices that puts energy issues on the back burner for some.

"The main threats to Obama's energy plan are declining energy prices and the financial meltdown," said Jerry Taylor, energy expert at the Cato Institute.

As a result, Taylor said he doubted Obama would make energy one of his top goals during his first two years in office.

However, millions of jobs that would come from Obama's energy plan are just what the United States would need, according to Daniel Weiss, energy expert at the Center for American Progress Action Fund.