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| Motown Warning? President Says U.S. "Addicted to Oil" in State of the Union Speech |
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WASHINGTON, D.C. — Just days after saying he wouldn't bail out Detroit's struggling automakers, President Bush put manufacturers on notice that he will be working to wean the nation off foreign oil.
"America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world," Bush said Tuesday evening in his annual State of the Union speech.
Bush encouraged an increase in federal research into alternative fuels, like ethanol made from sources other than corn. He also pushed for new nuclear power plants along with increases in wind, solar and clean-coal technologies.
"Our goal is to make this new kind of ethanol practical and competitive within six years," the president said. "Breakthroughs on this and other new technologies will help us reach another great goal: to replace more than 75 percent of our oil imports from the Middle East by 2025."
But with transportation accounting for two-thirds of U.S. oil consumption each year, according to the Department of Energy, the statement also puts Detroit squarely in the political spotlight. American automakers have largely been viewed as laggards in pursuing fuel-efficient vehicles, instead looking to protect ever shrinking profit margins with larger sport-utility vehicle production.
The latest figures from the Department of Transportation show Detroit has a ways to go to catch its Japanese competitors in terms of fuel efficiency. While Toyota's domestic passenger cars averaged 34.3 miles per gallon and Honda's 36.7 mpg in 2005, GM's domestic passenger cars averaged only 28.8 mpg, with Ford's averaging 28.2 and DaimlerChrysler's 28.7 mpg.
Even before the announcement, the message was starting to get through to manufacturers as oil prices have hovered around the $70 per barrel level since this past summer. Virtually every automaker has been scurrying to offer more fuel-efficient products trying to replicate the commercial and marketing success of Toyota's second-generation Prius hybrid sedan in 2004. The federal government also announced up to $3,400 tax credits for those who buy a qualifying hybrid or low-emission vehicle in 2006.
The statement also comes just days after Bush told The Wall Street Journal he wouldn't bail out Detroit's struggling automakers if GM or Ford went bankrupt.
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Source : http://www.edmunds.com
(2/2/2006)
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| Other
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| Kermit Debuts as Ford Spokesfrog for Super Bowl Ad Spot |
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