Click here to write a Letter to the Editor.President Bush outlined an energy plan Tuesday that would boost the use of alternate fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel, and would seek a 20% reduction in gasoline use in the next 10 years, news services reported.“It is in our vital interest to diversify America’s energy supply, and the way forward is through technology,” the president said in his State of the Union address to Congress Tuesday evening.“We need to press on with battery research for plug-in and hybrid vehicles, and expand the use of clean diesel vehicles and biodiesel fuel,” Bush said. “We must continue investing in new methods of producing ethanol, using everything from wood chips to grasses, to agricultural wastes.”Bush also called for a doubling of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in the next 20 years. (
Click here for previous coverage.)The president’s proposal would seek raising the fuel efficiency of passenger cars and light trucks by an estimated 4% annually, a move which brought questions within the industry and among its supporters in Congress, the Associated Press reported.Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said the plan would require a thorough examination, AP reported.Auto giant General Motors Corp. said in a statement that it would try to ensure that “any fuel economy increases are technically achievable and do not compromise safety, performance, or limit consumer choice.”DaimlerChrysler Chairman Dieter Zetsche, in a speech at the Washington Auto Show before Bush’s address, said the current system, which autos use the Corporate Average Fuel Economy for automotive fleets, runs counter to the principles of a free market system and presented major challenges for the industry, AP reported.
