'Energy independence' on Bush agenda [View All]

[jpak]

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/15640174/#storyContinued

The Bush administration will soon launch a big "energy independence" initiative, likely to include re-newed emphasis on biofuels, as part of an attempt to regain the political initiative following the midterm elections.

Plans to develop technology to make fuel from plant waste could be a big beneficiary of the plan, Alan Hubbard, the top White House economic advisor, has suggested. His comments come as the White House seeks to recover from what Mr Bush called a "thumping" in Tuesday's vote by changing its political tone and challenging Democrats to work with it on a range of practical policy issues.

Political analysts say a bold energy initiative could help Mr Bush regain some political momentum, while buttressing Republican support in the farming states of the west and the mid-west, where Democrats made inroads.

Mr Hubbard, director of the National Economic Council, said in an interview with the Financial Times that the White House would be able to work with the new Congress on energy, as well as a number of other big domestic issues, including education, immigration and reform of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

<more - but many details>