February 2006
Greener Bush?
At the end of January, President Bush gave his State of the Union address and it will be remembered for the phrase that "America is addicted to oil". So does this mean that President Bush is turning green?
The State of the Union address is an important speech given by the president in which he delivers his agenda for the next year. In this year’s speech he said the US was too reliant on oil from "unstable" countries and had to find alternatives.
His speech on energy may be in response to the growing green lobby but it could also be a response to higher energy prices.
Mr Bush believes the solution is through technology; spending more on clean energy research such as zero-emission coal fired stations, ethanol fuel from wood chips, solar and wind technologies and nuclear energy.
The president said he was aiming for a 75% cut in US oil imports from the Middle East by 2025. The US wants to cut its reliance on Middle Eastern oil because it is concerned about the stability of oil supplies from the region. However, the target should not be difficult to achieve as these days the US gets more oil and petroleum products from Venezuela, Mexico and Canada than it does from the Middle East.
This years speech may be even more notable because he did not even mention climate change or the words "greenhouse gases", and he only put energy as the sixth on a list of seven measures the US had to take to stay competitive.
President Bush's agenda to encourage less reliance on oil has raised eyebrows, however has the President gone green? Only time will tell.
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