Bush Worried Low Pump Prices May Slow New Fuels - Reuters [View All]

[hatrack]

And I'll bet he knows how to head off that particular possibility!

ST LOUIS - US President George W. Bush on Thursday said that falling gasoline prices are "good news" for consumers, but said he was worried that lower pump costs would stunt development of alternative energy fuels.

"My worry is, however, that a low price of gasoline will ... make us complacent about our future when it comes to energy," Bush said at a government-sponsored renewable energy conference in St. Louis. The national price for regular unleaded gasoline dropped 5 cents over the past week and 78 cents in the last nine weeks to US$2.26 a gallon, according to the Energy Information Administration's weekly survey of service stations. That's the lowest price since mid-February, and comes after prices hit a summer high of US$3.04 a gallon in early August.

Bush said the United States needed to reduce its reliance on oil, especially from imports, and that developing alternative energy fuels, such as cheaper ethanol, would help the US economy and improve the nation's energy security. "Let me just put it bluntly: We're too dependent on oil," Bush said. "Low gasoline prices may mask that concern." He said the United States needed to develop alternative energy fuels because America has to import 60 percent of its oil to meet domestic demand, and some of that crude comes from "countries that don't particularly care for us."

Bush did not unveil any new initiatives but promoted his administration's program to fund research for making ethanol from less expensive wood chips, switch grass and other agricultural waste products. Most US ethanol is made from higher-priced corn.

ED. - Emphasis added

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