Bush pushes alternative fuels on Earth Day

By Patricia Wilson

SACRAMENTO, California (Reuters) – President George W. Bush
marked Earth Day on Saturday by spotlighting a technology that
could reduce U.S. dependence on oil, while Democrats seized on
a spike in gas prices to criticize White House energy policy.

With oil prices hitting a record high this week and gas at
the pump topping $3 a gallon in some places, Democrats hoping
to win control of the U.S. Congress in November elections used
the issue to make a populist argument against big oil companies
and Republicans’ ties to them.

Critics are also seeking to tap into public anxiety caused
by rising gas prices as a way to blunt the White House push to
take credit for overall good economic numbers.

“This country desperately needs a real strategy on energy,
not simply the view held by the administration — ‘let the big
oil companies run energy policy,”‘ New York Democratic Sen.
Charles Schumer said on Friday.

Bush, a former Texas oilman, has called for the United
States to kick its “addiction” to oil, but there is little he
can do to bring the cost of gas down in the short term.

In Sacramento on Saturday, Bush will tour the California
Fuel Cell Partnership and promote technology with the potential
to revolutionize the way cars are powered, including vehicles
run on hydrogen fuel cells that would emit no pollution and be
more efficient than gas-powered cars.

Many experts say it is unlikely fuel-cell vehicles will be
ready for widespread use for two or three decades.

Bush is also funding research into a new generation of
plug-in hybrid vehicles that could be recharged in electrical
outlets, allowing many drivers to make their daily commute
using no gas.

“By developing these and other new sources of clean
renewable energy like ethanol, we will continue growing our
economy, reduce energy prices and protect our environment, and
make America less dependent on foreign oil,” Bush said in his
weekly radio address.

DEMOCRAT CALLS FOR HEARINGS

Schumer called for dramatically increased conservation, a
crash program to develop new energy sources and a
“re-examination of whether having only four giant oil companies
can co-exist with the needs of the American consumer and
rational policy on energy.”

New York Rep. Louise Slaughter, the top Democrat on the
House of Representatives’ Rules Committee, wants immediate
hearings into legislation to reduce gas prices.

“When major oil companies are bringing in the largest
profits in American history, working Americans are struggling
to afford the morning drive to work,” Slaughter said on Friday.
“Ordinary Americans shouldn’t have to suffer to subsidize
record earnings for Exxon-Mobil.”

Environmentalists cautiously welcomed Bush’s focus on fuel-
cell technology, but Roland Hwang, vehicles policy director for
the Natural Resources Defense Council, warned against selling a
promising long-term solution as “a quick fix” for political
cover.

Oil prices shot up to a new peak over $75 a barrel on
Friday as investment funds snapped up crude futures and tension
mounted over Iran’s nuclear intentions.

U.S. gasoline retail prices are surging to a level unseen
since last year’s hurricanes knocked out a quarter of the
country’s fuel supply.

“I know the folks here are suffering,” Bush said in San
Jose on Friday, “I pledge to the people here in California, if
we find any price gouging it will be dealt with firmly.”