[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 41, Number 24 (Monday, June 20, 2005)]
[Pages 999-1003]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks to the 16th Annual Energy Efficiency Forum

June 15, 2005

    Thank you all. Thanks for the warm welcome. John, thanks for the 
introduction. Thanks for the invitation to be here for the 16th annual 
Energy Efficiency Forum. It's an important forum. By advancing the 
national dialog on the future of energy, you're helping us support the 
cause of energy efficiency. And that's critical for our economy, and 
it's critical for the future of this Nation.
    You see, increasing energy efficiency will help consumers save 
money. Increasing energy efficiency will leave American businesses with 
more capital, will make American businesses more competitive. Increasing 
energy efficiency will help reduce our energy consumption and to help us 
achieve a vital national goal, and that is making America less dependent 
on foreign sources of energy. And that's what I want to talk to you all 
about today, a strategy to make us less dependent on foreign sources of 
energy.
    I want to thank John. I want to thank Bob Catell, who is the event 
host. He's the chairman of the United States Energy Association. I want 
to thank Betty Arndt. I want to thank Barry Worthington. Thank you both 
for setting this event up. I want to thank the Assistant Secretary, 
David Garman, of the Department of Energy, for being here. I appreciate 
Pat Wood, the FERC Chairman. Where are you, Pat? There he is, my fellow 
Texan. How many children you got now? [Laughter] Three, one on the way? 
[Laughter]
    I want to thank your fellow commissioners--Commissioner Brownell, 
Commissioner Kelliher, Commissioner Kelly--for joining you all. Thank 
you all for coming. Thanks for serving. Appreciate what you do.
    I'm optimistic about this country's future, and Americans have a 
reason to be optimistic as well. Over the last 2 years, we have added 
more than 3.5 million new jobs. More Americans are working today than 
ever before in our Nation's history. Homeownership in America is at an 
alltime high, and that's good. We want more people owning something in 
America. We want more small-business owners. We want more homeowners. I, 
personally, think it would be good for the country if people had more 
control over their retirement accounts.
    Small businesses are flourishing. Factory output is growing. Exports 
are at their highest level ever. Families are taking home more of what 
they earn. Because of our policies, our economy is growing and creating 
more opportunity and increased prosperity for millions of citizens, and 
that's good news.
    And to build on this success and to keep this economy growing. We 
need an affordable, reliable supply of energy, and that starts with 
pursuing policies to make prices reasonable at the pump. Today, millions 
of American families and small businesses are hurting because of high 
gasoline prices. If you're trying to meet a payroll or trying to meet a 
family budget, even small increases at the pump have a big impact on 
your bottom line. For the sake of American families and American 
workers, this country must take action now

[[Page 1000]]

to deal with the causes of rising gasoline prices.
    The primary cause of rising gasoline prices is that the global 
demand for oil is growing faster than global supply. Here in America, we 
have become too dependent--too dependent--on the increasingly limited 
supply of foreign oil for our own energy needs. For many years, most of 
the crude oil refined in American--into gasoline in America came from 
domestic oil fields. In 1985, 75 percent of the crude oil used in U.S. 
refineries came from American sources, only about 25 percent came from 
abroad. Today, that equation is nearly reversed. In a relatively quick 
period of time, only about 35 percent of the crude oil used in U.S. 
refineries is produced here at home--think about that--while about 65 
percent comes from foreign countries like Saudi Arabia, Mexico, 
Venezuela, and Canada. To compound the problem, countries with rapidly 
growing economies like India and China are competing for more of the 
world oil supply, and that drives up the global price of oil, and that 
makes prices of gasoline here at home even higher for our families and 
small businesses and farmers.
    Our dependence on foreign oil is like a foreign tax on the American 
Dream, and that tax is growing every year. My administration is doing 
all we can to help ease the problem. We're encouraging oil-producing 
countries to maximize their production, so more crude oil is on the 
market to meet the demands of the world. And we're going to make sure 
that consumers here at home are treated fairly. There's not going to be 
any price gouging here in America.
    But people got to understand our dependence on foreign oil didn't 
develop overnight, and it's not going to be fixed overnight. To solve 
the problem, our Nation needs a comprehensive energy policy. That's why 
one of the first things I did when I came to office 4 years ago was to 
develop a new energy strategy for America. And in my first months in 
office, I sent Congress a plan to put our Nation on the path to greater 
energy independence. For 4 years, the United States Congress has 
discussed and debated the plan with no result. So earlier this year, I 
sent a clear message to Congress: Get a good energy bill on my desk 
before the August recess. Now is the time for them to act.
    The House has acted, and I want to thank the leadership in the 
House. And the Senate's turn is now up. It's now their time to get 
something done. And they're beginning the debate on the energy bill this 
week. And my advice is they ought to keep this in mind: Summer is here; 
temperatures are rising; and tempers will really rise if Congress 
doesn't pass an energy bill.
    The American people know that an energy bill will not change the 
price of gas immediately, but they're not going to tolerate inaction in 
Washington as they watch the underlying problems grow worse. We have a 
responsibility to confront problems. The American people expect us to 
act in good faith here in Washington. To address the root causes of high 
gas prices, we need to take four important steps toward one vital goal, 
and that is making America less dependent on foreign sources of oil.
    The first step toward making America less dependent on foreign oil 
is to improve conservation and efficiency. That's why this conference is 
an important conference, and I want to thank you for holding it. Hybrid 
vehicles are one of the most promising technologies immediately 
available to consumers. There are some interesting things taking place 
in the market place that will help achieve this part, this step of less 
dependency on foreign sources of oil. Hybrid automobiles are powered by 
a combination of gasoline and electricity. Some can travel twice as far 
on a gallon of fuel as gasoline-only vehicles. Hybrids produce lower 
emissions. To help consumers conserve gas and protect the environment, I 
proposed that every American who purchases a hybrid vehicle receive a 
tax credit of up to $4,000. We're trying to encourage people to make 
right choices in the market place that will make us less dependent on 
foreign sources of oil and to help improve our environment.
    We are also encouraging automakers to produce a new generation of 
modern, clean diesel cars and trucks. My administration has issued new 
rules that will remove more than 90 percent of the sulfur in diesel fuel 
by 2010. Clean diesel technology will allow consumers to travel much 
farther on each gallon

[[Page 1001]]

of fuel without the smoke and pollution of past diesel engines. To 
encourage this promising technology, Congress should extend the tax 
incentives for the purchase of hybrid vehicles to clean diesel cars and 
trucks. You see, America leads the world in technology, and we need to 
use that technology to lead the world in fuel efficiency.
    The second step toward making America less dependent on foreign oil 
is to produce and refine more crude oil here at home in environmentally 
sensitive ways. By far the most promising site for oil in America is the 
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. Technology now makes it 
possible to reach the oil reserves in ANWR by drilling on just 2,000 of 
the 19 million acres. Developing this tiny area could eventually yield 
up to a million barrels of oil a day, and that million barrels of oil a 
day would be--would make us less dependent on foreign sources of energy. 
Thanks to technology, we can reach ANWR's oil with almost no impact on 
land or local wildlife. To make America less dependent, Congress needs 
to pass a pro-growth, pro-jobs, pro-environment development of ANWR. It 
makes sense. It is an important part of a comprehensive strategy.
    We also need to improve our ability to refine crude oil into 
gasoline and other products. Do you realize this? There hasn't been a 
single new refinery built in America since 1976. To meet our growing 
demand for gasoline, America now imports about a million barrels of 
refined gasoline every day. That means about one out of every nine 
gallons of gas you get at the pump is refined in a foreign country. Not 
only are we dependent on foreign sources of oil, we're becoming more 
dependent on foreign sources of gasoline.
    To help secure our gasoline supply and lower prices at the pump, we 
need to encourage existing refineries to expand their capacity. So the 
Environmental Protection Agency is working to simplify rules and 
regulations for refinery expansion, and I'm confident we can do so and 
maintain strict environmental safeguards. We also need to build new 
refineries. So I've directed Federal agencies to work with States to 
encourage the construction of new refineries on closed military 
facilities and to simplify the permitting process for these new 
refineries. By promoting reasonable regulations, by being wise with 
policy, we can refine more gasoline at home, and that will make us less 
reliant on foreign sources of gasoline.
    The third step toward making America less dependent on foreign oil 
is to develop new alternatives to gasoline and diesel. Two years ago, my 
administration launched an ambitious program called the Hydrogen Fuel 
Initiative. We've already dedicated $1.2 billion over 5 years to this 
effort to develop hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles. Last month, I 
visited a hydrogen fueling station right here in Washington. I saw cars 
and vans that run on hydrogen fuel cells instead of gasoline. And these 
cars and vans emit pure water instead of exhaust fumes. The energy bill 
will authorize additional funds for this vital initiative. With bold 
investments now, we can begin to replace a hydrocarbon economy with a 
hydrogen economy and make it possible for our children, today's children 
to take the driver's test in a completely pollution-free vehicle.
    We've got to be aggressive about finding alternative sources of 
fuel. And one such source is ethanol. Ethanol comes from corn, and we're 
pretty good about growing corn here in America. We've got a lot of good 
corn growers. Therefore, it makes sense to promote ethanol as an 
alternative to foreign sources of oil. Ethanol can be mixed with 
gasoline to produce a clean, efficient fuel. In low concentrations, 
ethanol can be used in any vehicle. And with minor modifications, 
vehicles can run on a fuel blend that includes about 85 percent ethanol 
and 15 percent gasoline. Ethanol helps our farmers find new markets and 
helps us replace foreign crude oil. I mean, I like the idea of spending 
money on research to make ethanol more feasible, so that some day an 
American President says, ``Show me the crop report.'' [Laughter] As 
opposed to, ``How many barrels of crude oil are we importing?''
    By the way, we can get the same type of alternative fuel from 
soybeans. It's called biodiesel, and that's a promising source of 
energy. I went to a biodiesel refinery in Virginia that is making fuel 
from soybean oil. Other producers are making biodiesel, by the way, from 
waste products like recycled cooking

[[Page 1002]]

grease. Biodiesel can be used in any vehicle that runs on regular 
diesel. So as you get more clean diesel engines in America, biodiesel 
becomes an alternative fuel for them. It burns more completely and 
produces less air pollution than gasoline or regular diesel.
    It makes sense for the energy bill to encourage renewable sources of 
energy that are becoming much more practical and much more economic in 
today's world. To encourage greater use of ethanol and biodiesel, my 
administration supports a flexible, cost-effective renewable fuel 
standard as a part of the energy bill. This proposal would require fuel 
producers to include a certain percentage of ethanol and biodiesel in 
their fuel. I proposed $84 million in the 2006 budget for ongoing 
research into advanced technologies that can produce ethanol from farms, 
forests, or even municipal waste dumps. We've got a chance here as we go 
forward to do something smart, and that is figure out ways to use that 
which we grow or that which we dispose of to replace foreign sources of 
oil.
    The fourth step toward making America less dependent on foreign oil 
is to help other nations use technology to reduce their own demand for 
crude oil and gasoline. Much of the current projected rise in gasoline 
prices is due to rising oil consumption in Asia. These are emerging 
economies that are consuming more natural resources, one of which is 
oil. As Asian economies grow, their demand for oil is growing much 
faster than global supply is growing. And that drives up price. It's in 
our interest to help countries like India and China become more 
efficient users of hydrocarbons. That will help take the pressure off 
global supply, take the pressure off gasoline prices here at home.
    At the G-8 meeting next month, I'll ask other world leaders to join 
America in helping developing countries find practical ways to use 
cleaner, more efficient energy technologies. When we lower the global 
demand for oil, Americans will be better off at the gas pump, and future 
generations will breathe cleaner air too.
    As we make America less dependent on foreign oil, we are pursuing a 
comprehensive strategy to address other energy challenges facing our 
country. Along with high gas prices, many families and small businesses 
are confronting rising electricity bills. Summer air conditioning costs 
are going to make it even more expensive to power homes and office 
buildings.
    To help our consumers save on their power bills, we must continue 
expanding our efforts to improve conservation and efficiency. The energy 
bill would extend the Energy Star program. This program encourages the 
sale and production of energy-efficient products, like superefficient 
refrigerators that use less energy than a 75-watt light bulb. Advances 
in efficiency are saving American consumers more money. In 2001, the 
average American family spent about half as much to heat its home as it 
did in 1978. One day, technologies like solar panels and high-efficiency 
appliances and advanced insulation could even allow us to build zero-
energy homes that produce as much energy as they consume.
    We must also harness the power of technology to help us deliver 
electricity more efficiently. For example, the Department of Energy is 
funding research and development of superconducting power lines. It's 
important research because it will enable us to more efficiently move 
electricity. Really what we need to do is bring our electricity grid 
into the 21st century. Congress should make reliability standards for 
electric utilities mandatory, not optional. We have modern interstate 
grids for our phone lines and highways. It's time for this country to 
build a modern electricity grid so we can protect American families and 
businesses from damaging power outages.
    To power our growing economy, we also need to generate more 
electricity. Electricity comes from three principal sources, coal, 
natural gas, and nuclear power. To ensure that electricity is affordable 
and reliable, America must improve our use of all three.
    Coal is our Nation's most abundant energy source, and America is 
blessed with enough coal to last for the next 250 years. Yet, coal 
presents an environmental challenge. So when I ran for President in 
2000, I pledged to invest $2 billion over 10 years for research into 
clean coal technologies to remove virtually all pollutants from coal-
fired powerplants. My budget for 2006 brings clean coal funding to 1.6 
billion over 5 years--puts us

[[Page 1003]]

on pace to exceed my pledge. And there's no doubt in my mind we can 
succeed. There's no doubt in my mind this great country can use 
technology to be able to burn coal in environmentally friendly ways.
    Congress needs to pass the Clear Skies Initiative, which is a 
reasonable--it's a good piece of legislation. It's sound policy. They 
need to pass it. And by passing it, not only will we clean the 
environment, but it will result in tens of billions of dollars in clean 
coal investments by private companies. America must invest in clean coal 
technology and continue to do so, to harness the power of an abundant 
resource.
    Improving our electricity supply also means making better use of 
natural gas. The United States has the sixth largest proven reserves of 
natural gas in the world. We need to increase environmentally 
responsible production of natural gas from our Federal lands. And to 
further increase our natural gas supply, Congress needs to make clear 
Federal authority to choose sites for new receiving terminals for 
liquefied natural gas.
    We need to expand our Nation's use of nuclear power. America has not 
ordered a nuclear powerplant since the 1970s. France, by contrast, has 
built 58 plants in the same period of time, and today, France gets more 
than 78 percent of its electricity from safe, low-cost nuclear power. 
It's time for America to start building again. So I've directed the 
Department of Energy to work with Congress to help pass legislation that 
will reduce uncertainty in the nuclear plant licensing process. We're 
also working with Congress to provide other incentives, such as Federal 
insurance to protect the builders of the first four new plants against 
lawsuits, bureaucratic obstacles, and other delays beyond their control. 
To build a secure energy future for America, we need to expand 
production of safe, clean nuclear power.
    So I appreciate you letting me come by today to talk about a 
comprehensive strategy, a comprehensive way forward to achieve one 
overriding goal, and it's an important goal to achieve. And the goal is 
to address the root causes of higher energy costs by diversifying our 
energy supply and reducing our dependence of foreign sources of energy.
    For the past 4 years, Americans have been paying the price for 
delaying a national energy policy. They've been watching their power 
bills go up. They've seen blackouts. And they're watching the price of 
gasoline rise at the pump. The energy bill will help us make better use 
of the energy supplies we now have and will make our supply of energy 
more affordable and more secure for the future. To make this promise 
real tomorrow, we've got to act today. Now is the time. Now is the time 
to stop the debate and the partisan bickering and pass an energy bill.
    I look forward to working with Members of the Congress to come up 
with reasonable comprises on outstanding issues such as MTBE. But for 
the sake of national security and for the sake of economic security, the 
Congress needs to pass an energy bill now.
    Now is the time to act. Now is the time to put a strategy--we should 
have done this 10 to 15 years ago. Now is the time to move. And history 
shows that American innovation is never in short supply. That's the good 
news. We're going to harness our innovative spirit in this new century, 
and by doing so, we will leave our children and grandchildren a cleaner, 
a healthier, and a more secure America.
    May God bless you all.

Note: The President spoke at 11:05 a.m. at the Ronald Reagan Building 
and International Trade Center. In his remarks, he referred to John M. 
Barth, chairman and chief executive officer, and Betty Arndt, vice 
president, communications, Johnson Controls, Inc.; Robert B. Catell, 
chairman and chief executive officer, KeySpan Corp.; and Barry K. 
Worthington, executive director, United States Energy Association. The 
Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language 
transcript of these remarks.