No, it won't add to the deficit. But that doesn't mean it isn't a horrible idea as the government once again takes on the role of deciding winners and losers.

The Hill:

A key part of that plan, according to the White House, is the creation of an "Energy Security Trust," in which some offshore drilling royalties would be steered into development of technologies that help curb reliance on oil for transportation.

The money - $2 billion over a decade - would support research into advancing technology around electric vehicles, biofuels, fuel cells, and natural gas-powered vehicles, according to the White House.

Using those funds, via the new energy trust, would allow Washington to "support American ingenuity without adding a dime to our deficit."

Clean energy technologies, such as vehicles that run on biofuels or natural gas, would let drivers "one day go coast-to-coast without using a drop of oil," Obama said on Saturday.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) the top Republican on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, has expressed support for steering some oil-and-gas royalties into a green energy fund.

However, the Alaska Republican claims the administration must allow drilling in areas that are currently off limits to oil-and-gas firms.

On Friday, House Republicans doubted the viability of the president's clean energy strategy if expanded drilling is not part of the equation.

"For this proposal to even be plausible, oil and gas leasing on federal land would need to increase dramatically," according to Brendan Buck, a spokesman for Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).

"Unfortunately, this administration has consistently slowed, delayed, and blocked American energy production," Buck said.

The corruption of the billions in stimulus money that went to Solyndra and other Obama supporters masked the ultimate futility of such spending; badly run companies with losing business plans should be last in line to get any funds, not first.

If this was money going to pure research at labs and universities, it might have some value. Instead, it will likely go to companies already formed and probably with great political connections.

That's how it's been since the president got in office and we shouldn't expect anything else.