Cut gas use 20%: Bush
Links reducing reliance on oil to terror fight

Sheldon Alberts, CanWest News Service Published: Wednesday, January 24, 2007

WASHINGTON - U.S. President George W. Bush, a former Texas oilman who has questioned the causes of climate change, last night proposed America cut its gasoline consumption by 20% over the next decade in a bid to curb global warming and reduce the country's reliance on oil from the Middle East.

In a State of the Union address to a Congress preoccupied with the war in Iraq, Mr. Bush linked America's future security from overseas threats to reducing its gas-guzzling habits at home.

The embattled President, whose approval ratings are at historic lows, proposed gasoline reduction targets be met through tougher vehicle fuel standards.

Further, Mr. Bush said he will seek a dramatic five-fold increase in U.S. production of ethanol and other alternative fuels.

"For too long our nation has been dependent on foreign oil. And this dependence leaves us more vulnerable to hostile regimes, and to terrorists -- who could cause huge disruptions of oil shipments, raise the price of oil and do great harm to our economy," Mr. Bush told lawmakers gathered in the House of Representatives chamber.

"It is in our vital interest to diversify America's energy supply --and the way forward is through technology," Mr. Bush said.

The appeal for a sharp curb on the use of gasoline comes one year after Mr. Bush first declared Americans were "addicted to oil" and as he seeks ways to cooperate with a Democratic Congress girding for a legislative showdown over his plan to send 21,500 new troops to Iraq.

It was the first time Mr. Bush had delivered his annual State of the Union address to a Congress fully controlled by Democrats, who won majorities in both the House and Senate in mid-term elections last November.

With the new Democratic House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, seated directly behind him, Mr. Bush challenged Iraq opponents by arguing a troop surge in Baghdad provides "the best chance" for success.

"This is not the fight we entered in Iraq, but it is the fight we are in. Every one of us wishes that this war were over and won. Yet it would not be like us to leave our promises unkept, our friends abandoned and our own security at risk," he said.

"If American forces step back before Baghdad is secure, the Iraqi government would be overrun by extremists on all sides. A contagion of violence could spill out across the country -- and in time the entire region could be drawn into the conflict. For America, this is a nightmare scenario."

Throughout the section of Mr. Bush's speech on Iraq, Ms. Pelosi sat behind him with lips pursed, refusing to applaud.

But Mr. Bush extended an olive branch to Democrats who have complained the White House has shut them out of decision- making over the past six years. He promised to establish a "special advisory council on the war on terror" made up of leaders from both parties.

Since he first outlined his plan for additional U.S. forces in Iraq two weeks ago, several polls have shown two-thirds of Americans oppose the buildup of troops. Mr. Bush's own approval rating is hovering just above 30%.

Recalling the weeks before the Iraq war when Congress and the White House were "largely united" over the invasion, Mr. Bush urged lawmakers to reconsider plans to vote against the expansion of the military mission.

"We are not the first to come here with government divided and uncertainty in the air. Like many before us, we can work through our differences," he said.

But Mr. Bush needed look no further than the first few rows of the House chamber for evidence of the challenge he will face in setting the country's foreign and domestic agenda. No fewer than 10 potential presidential candidates were in the congressional audience, including Democratic Senator Hillary Clinton, who arranged a series of national television interviews yesterday to upstage Mr. Bush.

Even as Mr. Bush touted a troop surge as America's best hope, his leading military commander in Iraq told Congress the country should expect the security situation to deteriorate further before it improves.

"The situation in Iraq is dire," Lieutenant-General David Petraeus told the Senate Armed Services committee. "None of this will be rapid. The way ahead will be neither quick nor easy ? But hard is not hopeless."

White House aides said Mr. Bush's best opportunity for more co-operation with Congress was on his domestic initiatives, particularly on energy and the environment. The President's plan to curb gasoline consumption - dubbed "20 in 10" - would require the production by 2017 of 35 billion gallons of renewable and alternative fuels, mostly corn ethanol, cellulosic ethanol, biodiesel, methanol, butanol and hydrogen. The current U.S. target is 7.5 billion gallons by 2012.

Combined with tougher fuel economy standards, Mr. Bush said the plan would help combat "the serious challenge of global climate change." It would also reduce U.S. imports of oil from the Middle East by 75%, he said.

To protect the U.S. against a sudden disruption in global oil supplies, he proposed doubling the nation's strategic petroleum reserve by 1.5 billion barrels by 2027, largely through increased domestic production.

The President's embrace of language used by environmentalists on climate change marked a shift in rhetoric. His administration has rejected the Kyoto Protocol, and Mr. Bush himself has questioned the link between the burning of fossil fuels and global warming.

© National Post 2007

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