Im not talking about Johnny Walker nor Charlie White, but Oil.
Never thought Id see the day when GW Bush would come out and admit the US has a serious problem with Oil dependency, is GWB becoming a bit of a tree hugger ?
Or is it a desperate ploy to boost his slumping popularity figures ?
Anyway I do agree with the sentiment, can Bush deliver ?
President George Bush has admitted the US is "addicted to oil" but pledged to reduce its dependence on Middle East imports by three quarters by 2025, largely through the development of ethanol fuel for cars derived from wood chips, vegetable matter and grass.
"By applying the talent and technology of America, this country can dramatically improve our environment, move beyond a petroleum-based economy, and make our dependence on Middle Eastern oil a thing of the past," Mr Bush declared in his state of the union address to Congress early today.
The president named the ambitious scheme "the Advanced Energy Initiative" and said it would involve a 22% increase in federal research into clean fuels. The research would also aim at developing "zero-emission coal-fired plants, revolutionary solar and wind technologies, and clean, safe nuclear energy", Mr Bush said.
But the most important goal was changing the fuel that powers America's cars, which account of 75% of all oil production according to administration figures. "It is the elephant in the room when it comes to the energy issue," Dan Bartlett, the president's media adviser, said in a briefing before the speech.
Successive administrations have promoted the use of corn ethanol as a subsidised fuel additive, in part as a means of support to American farmers. But President Bush said the ethanol US scientists were exploring would come from "wood chips, stalks, or switch grass [a tall, tough grass mostly found in marshes]". "Our goal is to make this new kind of ethanol practical and competitive within six years," he declared.
"Breakthroughs on this and other new technologies will help us reach another great goal: to replace more than 75% of our oil imports from the Middle East by 2025."
Mr Bartlett described this form of ethanol as cellusosic ethanol, and pointed to the example of Brazil which was producing a major part of its fuel from sugar cane.
President Bush has previously used previous state of the union addresses to make bold scientific pledges, most notably a promise to send astronauts back to the moon and ultimately send them to Mars. The scope of the vision, however, not been matched by funding.
Nevertheless, scientists welcomed the president's proposals. William Rosenberg, a senior fellow with the Belfer Center energy technology and innovation project at Harvard University, said: "President Bush's timely support of bold energy initiatives, that convert domestic biomass and coal into substitutes for oil and natural gas, will have a dynamic effect on the economy, national security and environmental protection."
Never thought Id see the day when GW Bush would come out and admit the US has a serious problem with Oil dependency, is GWB becoming a bit of a tree hugger ?
Or is it a desperate ploy to boost his slumping popularity figures ?
Anyway I do agree with the sentiment, can Bush deliver ?
President George Bush has admitted the US is "addicted to oil" but pledged to reduce its dependence on Middle East imports by three quarters by 2025, largely through the development of ethanol fuel for cars derived from wood chips, vegetable matter and grass.
"By applying the talent and technology of America, this country can dramatically improve our environment, move beyond a petroleum-based economy, and make our dependence on Middle Eastern oil a thing of the past," Mr Bush declared in his state of the union address to Congress early today.
The president named the ambitious scheme "the Advanced Energy Initiative" and said it would involve a 22% increase in federal research into clean fuels. The research would also aim at developing "zero-emission coal-fired plants, revolutionary solar and wind technologies, and clean, safe nuclear energy", Mr Bush said.
But the most important goal was changing the fuel that powers America's cars, which account of 75% of all oil production according to administration figures. "It is the elephant in the room when it comes to the energy issue," Dan Bartlett, the president's media adviser, said in a briefing before the speech.
Successive administrations have promoted the use of corn ethanol as a subsidised fuel additive, in part as a means of support to American farmers. But President Bush said the ethanol US scientists were exploring would come from "wood chips, stalks, or switch grass [a tall, tough grass mostly found in marshes]". "Our goal is to make this new kind of ethanol practical and competitive within six years," he declared.
"Breakthroughs on this and other new technologies will help us reach another great goal: to replace more than 75% of our oil imports from the Middle East by 2025."
Mr Bartlett described this form of ethanol as cellusosic ethanol, and pointed to the example of Brazil which was producing a major part of its fuel from sugar cane.
President Bush has previously used previous state of the union addresses to make bold scientific pledges, most notably a promise to send astronauts back to the moon and ultimately send them to Mars. The scope of the vision, however, not been matched by funding.
Nevertheless, scientists welcomed the president's proposals. William Rosenberg, a senior fellow with the Belfer Center energy technology and innovation project at Harvard University, said: "President Bush's timely support of bold energy initiatives, that convert domestic biomass and coal into substitutes for oil and natural gas, will have a dynamic effect on the economy, national security and environmental protection."
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