Thursday February 02, 2006 
Thursday February 02, 2006
Bush : 'America Addicted to Oil'
peakoil.com (thread1, thread2) -> news.yahoo.com :
President Bush said "America is addicted to oil" from the Middle East and must break its dependence, in a State of the Union speech that promised aggressive U.S. engagement around the world in defiance of critics. With three years left in office, Bush is hoping to lift his political fortunes and those of his Republican allies in an election year with control of Congress up for grabs. He is coming off one of the toughest stretches of his presidency, and his job approval ratings hover in the high 30s to low 40s in most polls. Soaring gasoline prices are a central factor in Bush's fall from grace with Americans. Oil prices are close to record levels and Exxon just reported record profits of $10.7 billion in the fourth quarter of 2005.
"America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world," Bush said. He set a six-year goal for making the alternative fuel ethanol practical and competitive, and vowed to fund additional research into ways to make ethanol not just from the commonly used corn but also from wood-chips or grasses. The goal, he said, is to "move beyond a petroleum-based economy, and make our dependence on Middle Eastern oil a thing of the past."
Critics doubted Bush ever really severed his ties from the oil industry and were skeptical he would put the kind of effort into conservation and alternative-fuel research they say is needed. His previous energy initiatives have had little impact on prices or supplies.
See also :
1. Exxon Mobil posts record profit of $10.7 billion
2. So much for biodiesel
(2006-02-02 00:31:16 SGT)
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In other news, Hell has just put in a bid to host the 2010 Winter Olympics...
Things must be getting pretty serious when a Texas oilman who is totally beholden to the oil industry declares that the US needs to reduce its dependence on oil.
I'm not expecting a lot of immediate action, but at the symbolic level this is a Big Deal. CNN keeps talking up the oil thing as if it was the main topic that Bush spoke about. We're a long way from doing what needs to be done, but at least people are *talking* about it now.
Posted by Doug on February 02, 2006 at 02:29 AM SGT #