President's Letter

My fellow Americans,

Keeping America competitive requires reliable, affordable, and clean supplies of energy. Over the past five years, my Administration has taken steps to increase the domestic supply of energy, including alternative and renewable sources. We have also worked to improve energy efficiency and to make our energy infrastructure more secure and reliable. We implemented a new National Energy Policy, and last summer I signed into law the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the first comprehensive energy bill in more than a decade.

America’s energy challenges require continued action. For the sake of our economic and national security, we must reduce our dependence on foreign sources of energy – including on the natural gas that is a source of electricity for many American homes and the crude oil that supplies gasoline for our cars. To achieve this objective, we will take advantage of technology. My Advanced Energy Initiative provides for a 22-percent increase in funding for clean-energy technology research at the Department of Energy. To change how we power our homes and offices, we will invest more in zero-emission coal-fired plants, revolutionary solar and wind technologies, and clean, safe nuclear energy. To change how we power our automobiles, we will increase our research in better batteries for hybrid and electric cars and in pollution-free cars that run on hydrogen. We will also fund additional research in cutting-edge methods of producing ethanol, not just from corn, but from wood chips, stalks, or switch grass.

Applying the talent and innovative spirit of our citizens, we will foster economic growth, protect and improve our environment, move beyond a petroleum-based economy, and make our dependence on foreign sources of energy a thing of the past.

GEORGE W. BUSH
THE WHITE HOUSE
February 20, 2006