Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) blasted the Bush administration last night for using fear of terrorism to drum up support for oil drilling in Alaska and other extraction-based energy policies. Speaking at a dinner in New York for the League of Conservation Voters, the potential 2004 presidential candidate denounced the administration’s maneuverings as “misplaced patriotism” and called for less dependence on oil, cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, higher fuel-efficiency standards for SUVs, and a 20-percent reliance on alternative energy sources by 2020. Kerry, who has promised to lead a filibuster on the Senate floor if conservatives advance a plan to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, is the most recent and perhaps the most influential voice to accuse the president of using fears about national security to meet industry and administration goals.
