Pres. Bush to Push Renewable Energy in State of the Union Address
Watch for more discussion on renewable energy sources after tonight's State of the Union Address.
Compiled by staff
Published: Jan 31, 2006
In an exclusive interview with CBS, President George Bush says the best way to become independent of foreign oil resources is to actively promote new technologies such as ethanol and create better driving habits. Bush will be talking about that in a "big way" in tonight's State of the Union Address.
In the pre-State of the Union interview, Bush says he is convinced with more research we'll be able to develop additional ways to make ethanol. There are about 4.6 million cars in America now that are flex-fuel cars. "I'd like to not only advance that technology of deriving fuel from corn, but also deriving fuel from waste materials, and I'm convinced we could do that with a good push, a technological push," Bush says.
"In other words, I want to see different kinds of cars on our road that don't require upon crude oil from overseas, but we have got a serious problem, and now is the time to fix it, and I'm going to address it again at the State of the Union," he adds.
Ford and General Motors are stepping up their efforts to produce and promote flexible fuel vehicles. Each made major announcements at the Washington Auto Show last week.
Ford unveiled the Escape flexible-fuel hybrid that offers it's electric motor technology mated to an engine capable of running on E85 (85% ethanol, 15% gasoline). The vehicle is still in the research stages, but offers promise for enhancing the already popular hybrid.
GM launched its "Live Green Go Yellow" advertising and marketing campaign, which will promote GM's flex-fuel vehicles and the benefits of E85. GM plans to air television ads during the Olympics in February and will complement the campaign with print, Web and broadcast components.
Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns is expected to hold a teleconference Wednesday to follow-up on Bush's State of the Union comments about energy. It's anticipated Johanns will discuss not only how to ease the pressure of increasing energy prices for farmers and ranchers, but also ways to promote renewable fuels.
Sources say Johanns will name Undersecretary for Rural Development Tom Dorr as the "energy czar" to coordinate the issue within USDA.
Be sure to check back to this Web site to see updated coverage of USDA's energy plan Wednesday.
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