Bush Presses Congress for Increased Support of Alternative Fuels

Washington May 16, 2005; The AIADA reported that President Bush once again stressed the importance of looking towards alternative fuels Monday during an address at the Virginia BioDiesel Refinery just outside of Richmond, reports the Associated Press. "Our dependence on foreign oil is like a foreign tax on the American dream, and that tax is growing every year," Bush said.

The President urged Congress to encourage development of alternate fuels including, biodiesel, hydrogen, clean coal technology and ethanol; he pressed for action on energy legislation that addresses supply and conservation issues. According to AP, Bush would like to see a bill reach his desk sometime in August of this year. The House has already passed energy legislation, but the Senate has yet to make a move. "Biodiesel is one of our nation’s most promising alternative fuel sources and by developing biodiesel you’re making this country less dependent on foreign sources of oil," he said.

"Americans are concerned about high prices at the pump and they’re really concerned as they start making their travel plans, and I understand that," the president said. "I wish I could just wave a magic wand and lower the price at the pump. I’d do that. But that’s not how it works."

In another note, “The nation’s top highway-safety official said the Bush administration is preparing to overhaul the nation’s three-decade-old vehicle fuel-economy rules, a move he said "will save billions of gallons of gasoline per year and will be fair to the industry,”” reports the Wall Street Journal. “

In one of the clearest statements that the administration is prepared to change the status quo that has governed the U.S. auto industry since the 1970s, Jeffrey Runge, administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, yesterday said that simply ratcheting up mileage standards within the framework of the current rules -- the so-called Corporate Average Fuel Economy system -- "wouldn’t be fair to the full-line manufacturers" whose products include heavy, powerful trucks.” Dr. Runge has yet to provide any specifics on possible changes the administration is considering.