Andy Karsner, the former managing director of wind giant Enercorp and current Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency/Renewable Energy at the DOE, was supposed to be Our Guy inside the Bush Administration. Even I was (slightly) convinced by his sweaty, impassioned speech on his team's revolutionary approach to EE and RE at the ACORE Phase II Policy Meeting. The hallmark of that speech was his team's big budget - over which he claims they had ultimate control. But, as with all things Bush Administration-related, Andy Karsner is a fraud. The FY 2009 Budget dropped today and it's hotter than the new Vampire Weekend album. Karsner's EE/RE budget was slashed 28 percent to $1.255 billion, including big reductions in solar, vehicle, hydrogen, and facilities & infrastructure research and technologies. Not to worry, though. Another DOE department, the Fossil Energy Research and Development program, received a 25 percent boost in funding to $997 million. So much for Our Guy in Washington.