[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 42, Number 17 (Monday, May 1, 2006)]
[Pages 762-766]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at the California Fuel Cell Partnership in West Sacramento, 
California

April 22, 2006

    Thank you all. Mr. Secretary. I'm really pleased to have Norman 
Mineta in my Cabinet. He is a really good guy. And I thank you for your 
service, friend, and thank you for being here to share in this testimony 
to what technology is going to do for our country to make it a better 
place for all of us to live.
    First of all, happy Earth Day to you. It's a good place to spend 
Earth Day, here in California. I got to spend the first part of my day 
riding a mountain bike in Napa Valley. It's a good place to ride--
[laughter]--a little hillier than I would have liked. [Laughter] But 
it's a spectacular way to commune with nature. And I really appreciate 
you coming. I want all of us to understand

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that we have a serious responsibility to be good stewards of our land. 
And this is a day we unite together to recommit ourselves to be good 
stewards of our land.
    I appreciate the good stewardship--commitment to good stewardship at 
the heart of the California Fuel Cell Partnership. I bet a lot of our 
citizens don't understand what goes on here. This is a really 
interesting collaborative effort between automakers and energy companies 
and fuel cell technology companies and State and Federal agencies, all 
united toward a great mission, which is to make hydrogen-powered 
automobiles and trucks and buses a reality for American drivers. And 
that will help us be good stewards of the environment, and that will 
help us become less dependent on foreign sources of oil.
    Today I saw cars and buses that run on hydrogen instead of gasoline 
and that emit pure water instead of exhaust fumes. This Nation does not 
have to choose between a strong economy and a clean environment; we can 
have both at the same time. And investing in new technologies like 
hydrogen will enable this economy to be strong, people to be able to 
afford fuel, this country's national security not dependent on parts of 
the world that are unstable. And technology will once again make this 
country the leader in the world, and that's what we're here to 
celebrate.
    And I want to thank Catherine Dunwoody, the executive director of 
the California Fuel Cell Partnership. I appreciate your commitment. You 
know, you can tell when somebody is pretty enthusiastic about what she's 
doing, a true believer. And she's a believer because she's not only a 
person with vision, but she is a practical person. And she has seen 
firsthand the progress being made.
    I want to thank Congressman John Doolittle and Julie for being here. 
And I also want to thank Congressman Dan Lungren. Thank you all for 
joining us today. I appreciate your interest.
    I thank the members and representatives of the California Fuel Cell 
Partnership. I want to thank the three guys from Ford Motor Company for 
giving me a tour. One guy was here; he's been 40 years, I think, at 
Ford. And here he is, describing what it's like to maintain a hydrogen 
fuel cell vehicle. I bet you didn't think you'd be talking about that 10 
years ago, 20 years ago, maybe 5 years ago. Things are changing for the 
better, and we're here to celebrate this Nation's desire to improve the 
quality of life.
    I would like to report to you on Earth Day that America's air is 
cleaner, our water is purer, and the land is better cared for. And 
that's important for people to know. Over the past 5 years, things have 
improved with air, land, and water. And we're setting tough standards 
when it comes to air quality. We're implementing clean air rules that 
will reduce powerplant pollution by 70 percent. We've established the 
first-ever national cap on mercury emissions from powerplants, which 
will result in nearly a 70-percent decrease in those emissions as well.
    Two years ago, I announced an important goal, and that is to end the 
no net loss policy of wetlands in the United States and increase 
wetlands in this country. I set a goal to restore, improve, and protect 
at least 3 million acres of wetlands over the next 5 years. So far we've 
restored, improved, and protected 1.8 million acres of wetlands. We're 
doing our part in the Federal Government. We have a responsibility to be 
good stewards of our air and our water and our land.
    You know, flying in here, Congressman Lungren pointed out all the 
different farms. And I want to thank the farmers and ranchers for being 
good stewards of the land as well. They've got a lot at stake when it 
comes to being mindful of maintaining good land practices. I don't know 
if you realize this or not, but in the farm bill we--I signed and 
Congress passed, we provide about $40 billion over a 10-year period to 
encourage our farmers and ranchers to protect wildlife and conserve our 
natural resources.
    Flying over the mountain ranges we saw the forests. In Washington, 
we passed the Healthy Forest Initiative, which will help us clear out 
dangerous underbrush that will help reduce the risk of catastrophic 
fires. We've got some commonsense, practical things we're doing in 
Washington that I think the--I know the American people expect us to do.
    You know, riding my bike today in the park reminded me of how 
important it is to make

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sure those parks are maintained and accessible to the American people. 
After all, it's your park system. We pledged 5 billion--$4.9 billion 
over 5 years to reduce the maintenance backlog in national parks, and 
we're honoring that commitment.
    I'll tell you something I find very interesting. In the 36 years 
since the first Earth Day, air pollution in America has been reduced by 
50 percent--yet, our economy has tripled in size during that time. And 
there's one main reason why, and that's because of technology. We're a 
technologically competent nation. We must always be on the leading edge 
of research and development in this country if we expect to be good 
stewards of the environment and make sure our people are able to find 
good work. That's the challenge.
    And so today we're here to honor a group of folks who are employing 
technology, using new ideas to help change the face of America. And it's 
important work we're doing here, because we've got a real problem when 
it comes to oil. We're addicted, and it's harmful for the economy, and 
it's harmful for our national security, and we've got to do something 
about it in this country.
    And so I want to try to share some ideas with you about what we can 
and must do. First of all, I understand the folks here, as well as other 
places in the country, are paying high gas prices. And you are because 
the primary component of gasoline is crude oil. And we live in a global 
marketplace, and when the demand for crude oil goes up in China or 
India, fast-growing economies, if the corresponding supply doesn't meet 
that demand, the price of gasoline is going to go up here in America. 
The American people have got to understand, what happens elsewhere in 
the world affects the price of gasoline you pay here.
    When that price of gasoline goes up, it hurts working people. It 
hurts our small businesses. And it's a serious problem that we've got to 
do something about. The Federal Government has a responsibility, by the 
way, to make sure there is no such--there is no price gouging, and we're 
watching real careful to make sure that people are treated fairly.
    We're going to have a tough summer because people are beginning to 
drive now during tight supply. The Energy Department predicts gas prices 
are going to go up. Part of the reason, of course, is the escalating 
price of crude oil. Another reason why is, we haven't had any refinery 
capacity in the United States in a long period of time. When you don't 
have refining capacity and demand goes up, you're going to see a price 
increase. And so this country has got to be wise about how we permit 
refineries and encourage additional refining capacity as well as, you 
well know here in this State, we're changing the fuel mixes from MPBE to 
ethanol.
    It was right to get rid of MPBE--MPBE was polluting water. It's a 
product that wouldn't biodegrade. It was a--it's a terrible pollutant. 
And we're replacing that with ethanol, but there's a transition period 
that has to take place. And all these factors remind us that we got to 
do something about our dependence on oil. That's what the lessons at the 
pump say today.
    I told you about national security. Let me talk a little bit about 
that. We get a lot of our oil from places that are unstable, and we get 
our oil sometimes from people that don't particularly care for us. 
That's what I mean about national security problems. We do not want to 
be reliant upon unstable parts of the world. We don't want the lives of 
our people affected because some nation may not like us.
    And so here's a strategy to deal with it: One, we're spending a lot 
of money at the Federal level to encourage research and development, 
with the goal of getting away from oil. Spent $10 billion over the last 
5 years to develop cleaner and cheaper and more reliable energy sources. 
The goal is, as I mentioned in my State of the Union, to promote 
hydrogen and hybrid vehicles and ethanol. In other words, what 
technology will enable us to do is change our driving habits, is to 
figure out new ways to utilize fuels so that they're not--so we can get 
away from oil-based fuels.
    I strongly believe hydrogen is the fuel of the future. That's what 
we're talking about. Hydrogen is used in a fuel cell that can power a 
car that uses no gasoline, produces no pollution or greenhouse gas 
emissions. Hydrogen vehicles can be twice as efficient as gasoline 
vehicles. Hydrogen can be produced

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from domestic energy sources, which means it has the potential--a vast 
potential--to dramatically cut our dependence on foreign oil. Hydrogen 
is clean; hydrogen is domestically produced; and hydrogen is the wave of 
the future. And the people here at the California Fuel Cell Partnership 
understand that.
    What's interesting is that they're--because of this collaborative 
effort, there are now 100 hydrogen-powered vehicles on California roads. 
That may not seem a lot to some of you, but what you're witnessing here 
is the beginning of a major change in the driving habits of the American 
people. That's what you're seeing. We're in a facility that is just at 
the beginning stage of some of the most exciting technological changes 
this country will ever see. Hydrogen cars are being used by companies 
like UPS, the governments of San Francisco and Los Angeles, UC-Davis and 
Irvine.
    I met the bus man here and--where is Bus Man? There he is, yes. He 
is one enthusiastic guy. [Laughter] He is--he truly believes that urban 
America is going to be transformed in a very positive way because of 
hydrogen-powered buses. And if you don't believe me, just ask him. 
[Laughter]
    We saw a fueling station today where vehicles come--the drivers 
drive in here to get hydrogen. About 6,000 automobiles have been fueled 
at this station since it's been up and running. I appreciate Governor 
Arnold Schwarzenegger's declaration that California plans to build a 
hydrogen highway. Of all the States in the United States that has been 
on the leading edge of technological change, it's been California. 
That's a positive declaration on his part. Basically what he's saying 
is, we want California to continue to lead this country when it comes to 
innovative change. And we support him.
    I believe that today's children will one day take a driver's test in 
a hydrogen-powered, pollution-free car. That's the goal of the United 
States. And it's a big goal, but it's an attainable goal. All you got to 
do is look at the progress that has been made thus far. In 2003, I 
pledged that we would spend $1.2 billion over 5 years for hydrogen 
research and development, and we're on track to meet that goal.
    One of the reasons I have come here is because I want the American 
people to understand that their tax dollars are yielding important 
results, that we are making progress, that the idea of having a 
hydrogen-powered automobile is not a foolish dream. It's a reality that 
is going to come to be. The funding is getting results. Since 2003, 
researchers have used Federal funding to double the lifetime of the 
hydrogen fuel cell stacks that power cars. In order for this to work, 
there has to be longevity--you just can't be changing your fuel cell 
stacks all the time. There has to be durability in order for this to be 
a product that people will want to buy.
    We've cut the cost of manufacturing hydrogen fuel cells in half. 
That's pretty rapid progress when you think that the funding started in 
2003, and the cost of the fuel cells have been reduced in half. And that 
is important. In order for this to become a part of life, these fuel 
cells have to be affordable. People have got to be able to buy them in 
order for them to be able to function properly. And we're making 
progress. We're heading for a hydrocarbon economy--from a hydrocarbon 
economy to a hydrogen economy. And that's a very positive development.
    There's another positive development taking place in America today, 
and that's the advent of the hybrid vehicle. And it's a good way to 
reduce our oil consumption right now. Hybrid vehicles have both a 
gasoline-powered engine and an electric battery, and they travel about 
twice as far on a gallon of fuel as gasoline-only vehicles. We can 
affect our dependence on oil by encouraging people to purchase hybrid 
vehicles. And that's why the Federal Government passed a law that says 
you get a tax credit of up to $3,400 for a hybrid vehicle purchase. In 
other words, we're trying to make it worthwhile for you to go out and 
purchase a hybrid vehicle, through the use of a tax credit.
    What's really going to be interesting, however, is what's called 
plug-in hybrid vehicles. And we're spending $31 million annually to 
speed up research into these battery technologies. And what this means 
is, is that we're trying to develop a battery that will power your 
vehicle, where you plug it in at night, and you drive the first 40 miles 
on electricity alone. Now, think about what that means for

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big cities. A lot of people don't drive more than 40 miles a day in big 
cities. So all of a sudden you've now--we're developing a technology 
that says, you'll drive by the use of electricity, and you won't use 
gasoline at all.
    And one way to affect consumption is to speed up the development of 
these plug-in hybrids, and we're doing just that at the Federal level. 
It's a promising technology that will help people change the way they 
drive. It'll be a transition to the hydrogen fuel cell batteries.
    Finally, I want to talk a little bit about ethanol. I'm a big 
proponent of ethanol. I like the idea of America's farmers being able to 
grow fuel. I like the idea of people saying, ``My corn crop is up, and 
therefore, we're less dependent on oil from somewhere.'' And that's what 
we're beginning to do. We're beginning to change driving habits of the 
American people by changing the fuel mix in their cars. Any vehicle can 
use ethanol with a concentration of less than 10 percent. With minor 
modifications, cars and trucks can become what's called flex-fuel 
vehicles that run on a fuel blend called E-85, which is a mix of 85 
percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline.
    And there are a lot of E-85 fueling stations now, particularly in 
the Midwest where they grow a lot of corn. But the idea is to be able to 
use your money to figure out how to use other materials to be able to 
manufacture ethanol. And we're close to some interesting breakthroughs; 
we're close to breakthroughs to be able to make ethanol from wood chips 
and stalks and switch grass and other natural materials. And it makes a 
lot of sense if we're trying to get off oil, and it makes sense to use 
taxpayers' money to research ways to use switch grass, for example, to 
become a fuel for your automobile. I think it does.
    Catherine reminded me, however, in my discussions with her, that 
switch grass can also be used to manufacture hydrogen. She wanted me to 
make sure--[laughter]--that in my description of what is possible in the 
United States that we--make sure one technology does not pirate money 
for another technology. And it's not going to happen. What's going to 
happen is, we'll have research on all fronts to achieve a grand national 
objective. And there's no doubt in my mind we'll be able to achieve this 
objective.
    We've done a lot of things in this country in the past. We've 
changed ways of life in--to make life qualitatively better for American 
people because we're innovators, and we're thinkers, and we get things 
done. And on this Earth Day, what I wanted to come to California to say 
is, we're in the process of dreaming big dreams for the American people 
but dreams that will be accomplished. We can't lose our nerve. We 
shouldn't lose our vision. We should remember where we've been and where 
we're going. And we're going to a day, and no doubt in my mind, where 
the United States of America will not be dependent on oil, will be good 
stewards of the environment, which will benefit the quality of life of 
the American people.
    Thank you for letting me come by to talk to you. God bless.

Note: The President spoke at 2:41 p.m. In his remarks, he referred to 
Julia Harlow, wife of Rep. John T. Doolittle of California; and Gov. 
Arnold Schwarzenegger of California.