[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 43, Number 12 (Monday, March 26, 2007)]
[Pages 355-359]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on Energy in Claycomo, Missouri

March 20, 2007

    Thank you all. Please be seated. Alan, thank you. It's good to be 
here in Kansas City. Thank you for your warm hospitality.

[[Page 356]]

I've had--I guess you'd call it ``Car Day.'' [Laughter] I started off at 
a GM plant across the way, and now I'm at the Ford plant. My impressions 
are--is that American automobile companies are essential to keeping us 
competitive, essential to providing good jobs, and these manufacturing 
facilities are full of some really--finest citizens in our country.
    I thank you for your hospitality. I enjoyed walking up and down the 
line, shaking people's hands. I'm impressed by just how warm everybody 
was. And I thank you, I really do. It's been a joy to be here.
    The reason I've come is, I want to highlight an important initiative 
for the country, and that is to promote technologies so we are less 
reliant upon foreign sources of oil. And the best way to become less 
reliant on foreign sources of oil is to manufacture automobiles that 
will use either less gasoline or different kinds of fuels. And that's 
what we're here to talk about.
    The Ford plant, the GM plant are producing automobiles that are the 
beginning, really, of helping this country develop a wise energy policy 
and a wise environmental policy. And so I appreciate the fact that we've 
seen hybrid technologies and the world's first hybrid SUV, ethanol-
driven cars. Americans are just getting used to this kind of 
technological--these technological breakthroughs--something you're used 
to. See, you make these cars all day long, but I don't think our 
citizens fully understand what is happening in America. And that's why 
I've come to highlight the technological changes that we're seeing.
    I've set out a goal of reducing America's gasoline consumption by 20 
percent over the next 10 years. Some of our fellow citizens say, ``Well, 
of course, that's just typical; they stand up there and put out a goal 
that's not achievable.'' I think it's achievable. And one way for me to 
make the case that it's achievable is to remind people about the new 
technologies that are being developed in a place like this Ford plant.
    I believe that--I call it 20/10; in other words, reduce gasoline 
usage by 20 percent over 10 years. And I'm looking forward to working 
with both Republicans and Democrats to get it done. See, this is the 
kind of thing where we should be able to come together for the good of 
the country and promote technologies, and to encourage consumption of 
hybrid automobiles.
    The American people expect us to work together. See, that's what 
they want. I'm confident that we can. And Congress needs to pass good 
bipartisan energy legislation, and they need to do it by the start of 
the summer driving season. That would be a good sign that we recognize 
that we've got a problem here in America, and we aim to solve it 
together.
    I appreciate Sam Graves--he's the Congressman from this area--
traveling down with me. Sam, thank you for being here. Sam's a farmer. 
I'm about to talk about ethanol a little bit. Let me put it to you this 
way: I like the idea that farmers are growing energy that powers our 
cars. I'd rather be paying American farmers than people overseas for the 
energy that fuels this economy. And so when you're making a vehicle that 
runs on ethanol or a flex-fuel vehicle, you're really helping national 
security.
    But before I get to that, I want to thank Alan for his leadership of 
Ford. I appreciate Ken Ward, the plant manager. Thank you for giving me 
a tour. How about your president of the UAW 249--he's not only the 
president; he happens to be the mayor. [Laughter] I told him--I asked 
him--[applause]--I said, ``You've got to be a busy guy,'' filling the 
potholes at the same time that he's worrying about the employees. But, 
Mayor, thank you--I call you, ``Mayor.'' I could call you, 
``President.'' [Laughter] I appreciate the tour, and thanks for hanging 
out there with me.
    I want to thank all the employees that are here. I also came over 
with Paul Marr. He's the plant manager of the General Motors Fairfax 
Assembly. I know you'll greet him kindly. But thank you for coming, 
Paul. I appreciate you being here.
    I mentioned national security. I bet you didn't think in terms--or 
maybe you do think in terms of national security when you make these 
modern automobiles here. See, I believe that when you're dependent on 
oil from parts of the world where people may not necessarily like us, 
that creates a national security problem. I know that when you're 
dependent on oil and the objective of some of

[[Page 357]]

the terrorists is to destroy oil networks, it creates a national 
security problem for us. In other words, the more we're dependent on oil 
from somewhere else, the more we're vulnerable to national security 
issues.
    I deal with it every day in the Oval Office. And so when I tell 
people that a goal of reducing the amount of gasoline, which means we'll 
use less crude oil, is in the national security interest of the country, 
I think--I hope you're beginning to get the drift of what I mean. It's 
like when I say to a worker, ``When you make one of these cars, you're 
helping the national security of the country.''
    I like the idea of being independent. I understand that when the 
demand for crude oil goes up in another part of the world and the supply 
of crude oil doesn't match it, the price of gasoline goes up in America. 
That's another issue we have to deal with when we're dependent on crude 
oil. About 60 percent plus of our crude oil comes from overseas.
    And so what do we do about it? What should the country do to lessen 
our dependence on energy from somewhere else? Well, one thing we need to 
do is to promote the idea of technologies changing the way we live. And 
that's what you're doing at the plant.
    And so I appreciate very much the idea of hybrid vehicles. If 
Americans don't know what I'm talking about, these are vehicles that 
either run on gasoline or electricity. You take it for granted; you live 
with them every day. Some people don't know what we're talking about. 
It's--this is a new market opportunity for Ford. More and more people 
are going to be saying, ``How can I help us be less dependent on foreign 
sources of energy?'' Well, one way is to buy a hybrid.
    It makes sense for the Government to encourage people to buy hybrid 
vehicles, and so we've got a tax credit for somebody who purchased such 
a vehicle, up to $3,500 a person. I think it makes sense to encourage 
consumer behavior to buy a car that you manufacture here or at the GM 
plant--not to be favoring one plant over the other. There have been--
about 700,000 hybrids have been sold in America. That's the beginning of 
something different, isn't it? It's the beginning of a new market.
    The next wave of technologies, I'm told, is for there to be plug-in 
hybrids. In other words, battery technologies--I'm hoping at some point 
in time relatively quickly, you all will be installing new battery 
technologies in these automobiles that will enable people to drive on 
electricity more than on gasoline.
    So part of the strategy has got to be for the Federal Government to 
promote research and development on technologies that will enable us to 
become the leader in battery technologies--lithium ionic batteries. I 
mean, it's very conceivable, one day, that somebody living in a big city 
will be able to drive the first 40 miles on electricity. Now imagine if 
all the big-city drivers were able to drive on electricity, not on 
gasoline, how much more--how much less dependent on foreign sources of 
oil we'd be. Remember, oil is the feedstock for gasoline.
    And it's coming. And I predict, relatively quickly, that you'll be 
making automobiles that will have this battery technology in. And I 
think it makes sense to use some of your money to encourage new 
technologies and to encourage research and development. And that's what 
we're doing. So part of the strategy is to really develop new battery 
technologies.
    And by the way, what you're proving here is, a car that--or a 
truck--doesn't have to look like a golf cart if you're running on 
electricity. It can be a normal size vehicle that people like to drive. 
Texans like to use pickup trucks, as you well know. And it makes sense 
to have these technologies fit in the kind of trucks that people like to 
drive or the kind of cars that people demand. And that's what's 
happening.
    I appreciate the idea of flex-fuel vehicles for the American 
citizen. That means that you can either use ethanol, or you can use 
gasoline, and you can choose. I like the idea of the consumer having 
more options. You're producing flex-fuel vehicles here, where somebody 
can decide to fill up with ethanol, or they can decide to fill up with 
gasoline, their choice. In turns out that Henry Ford--Model T was one of 
the first flex-fuel vehicles. I didn't realize that until I came here--
but that he had the vision of having the Model T run either on gasoline 
or ethanol. Isn't that interesting?

[[Page 358]]

    And finally, it's now becoming in the marketplace. Why? Because it's 
going to be necessary for this country for national security and 
economic security reasons to start using different kinds of fuels.
    And here in the Midwest, you have seen a boom in ethanol production 
and ethanol usage. And the reason why is, is that corn-based ethanol is 
leading an amazing change in the country. We consume about 5 billion 
gallons of ethanol right now in America. That's up nearly fivefold in a 
relatively quick period of time. The problem we face is that right now, 
the most efficient way to make ethanol is through the use of corn. And 
that's fine if you're a corn grower, but it's not fine if you're a hog 
raiser--[laughter]--because that price of corn is beginning to affect 
the people who are raising hogs. And I understand that. That's why we're 
spending a fair amount of money on developing new types of technology 
that will enable us to use something besides corn to make ethanol--
whether it be switch grasses or agricultural refuse or wood chips.
    And that technology is coming. It may sound farfetched to some that, 
one of these days, we'll be making a product that can go into a Ford 
pickup truck out of wood chips, and you'll be able to drive just like it 
was full of gasoline, but those days are around the corner. And it makes 
sense for us to promote that kind of technologies.
    Right now the ethanol industry is sectionally based because this is 
where the corn is grown. The idea is to develop new ways to be able to 
process different materials so that ethanol can be more widespread 
around the country. If you're a Ford guy working here on the line, it's 
in your interest that we promote new ways to make ethanol. After all, 
the flex-fuel vehicle would then become more in demand.
    All this is aimed, by the way, at doing what I told you, and that is 
to make us less dependent on crude oil. It's really interesting, isn't 
it, for the President to be talking about, one of these days, people 
driving pickup trucks driven by ethanol--fueled by ethanol from wood 
chips. Is it real? I think it is. Otherwise I wouldn't be standing here 
talking to you about it. Is it necessary? I know it's necessary for the 
sake of the future of this country.
    Ultimately, there's going to be hydrogen driving these vehicles. 
Some of us aren't probably going to be able to drive by the time those 
show up, and so the meantime--[laughter]. Of course, I'm not driving 
much anyway these days. [Laughter]
    I do believe we ought to reform the CAFE standards in a way that's 
based upon size--not fleet-wise, but on different sizes--in order to be 
able to encourage better mileage. But the big gains in this 20/10 
program are going to come through by alternative fuels. And that's what 
I want to share with you, that this is a national objective.
    We spent about $12 billion over the last 6 years to promote 
different kinds of researches, different kinds of ideas, trying to make 
sure America stays on the leading edge of technological change. I 
strongly believe it's in our interest to be the leader of technologies. 
Technology changes the way we have lived our lives; technology is going 
to change the way we drive our cars. And so part of the strategy to be 
better stewards of the environment and, at the same time, less dependent 
on foreign sources of energy is to change the automobile. And I've come 
to this plant because that's what you're doing. You're making a new kind 
of automobile that is literally a part of a changing America for the 
better.
    An energy strategy has got to be more than just an automobile 
strategy. I mean, we can reduce dependency on oil, and we will; we're 
still going to need oil. And therefore, I think it makes a lot of sense 
for us to continue to explore for oil and gas in environmentally 
friendly ways here in America. If you're worried about a terrorist 
attack, like I am--terrorist attack on our infrastructure somewhere else 
that will affect the price of oil, I do believe it makes sense to double 
the size of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, to have oil in place in the 
ground that we could then use in order to protect the American consumer 
against sudden disruptions of supply.
    We got a lot of coal in America. We've got about 250 years worth of 
coal. If you want to be less dependent on foreign sources of energy, it 
seems to make sense to develop the energy reserves you have at home. 
And--but coal burns--doesn't burn cleanly. And so therefore, we're 
spending a sizable

[[Page 359]]

amount of money on clean coal technologies. I believe that within a 
relatively quick period of time, we will have the ability to use coal to 
fire our electricity without emitting greenhouse gases or pollutants, 
zero-emission coal-fired plants. We've still got work to do. But there's 
a lot of research going on, and it makes sense to spend that kind of 
money on developing ways that we can be good stewards of the environment 
and use a plentiful supply of coal.
    I strongly believe in nuclear power. If you're somebody who is 
concerned about greenhouse gases, it seems like to me that it's logical 
then that you support the use of nuclear power. A nuclear powerplant is 
the ultimate source of renewable fuels, and it has zero emissions. It 
makes a lot of sense, to me, to promote a nuclear power. The engineering 
technologies have developed to the point where they're safe.
    It's an interesting part of the debate. I know there's a lot of 
folks who worry about nuclear power. I would just hope people would keep 
an open mind about it. If you really do want to become less dependent on 
foreign sources of energy and want to worry about the environment, 
there's no better way to protect the environment than the renewable 
source of energy called nuclear power.
    I do believe wind power makes sense. All we've got to do is put a 
couple of turbines in Washington, DC, and we'll be energy free. There's 
a lot of--[laughter]--a lot of hot air there, you know. [Laughter]
    What I'm telling you is, is that we've got a comprehensive plan, 
comprehensive ideas on how to meet the challenges, really, of the 21st 
century. I'm a believer in technologies, and I'm a believer in the 
ingenuity of the American people. And for the skeptics, all you got to 
do is come into a place like this and see what they're building.
    And I believe it's just the beginning. I really do. That's what I've 
come to share with you, my sense of optimism about the country. As a 
matter of fact, I don't think there's anything we can't achieve when we 
put our mind to it. This country has overcome challenges in the past, 
and we'll darn sure overcome them in the future.
    One of the challenges we have is to protect the country from a group 
of terrorists who'd like to do us harm. And here in this Ford plant, I 
want to declare to you: No matter how tough it gets, this country is 
going to stay steadfast and do the job that you expect us to do, which 
is to protect you from harm.
    And another challenge facing us is this challenge of energy 
independence. We're making great strides, continue to make great 
strides. And they'll look back and say of this generation that I'm a 
part of--I hope they'll look back and say, ``They did their job. Job 
well done.''
    Thanks for letting me come by, and God bless.

Note: The President spoke at 1:15 p.m. at the Ford Motor Company--Kansas 
City Assembly Plant. In his remarks, he referred to Allan Mulally, 
president and chief executive officer, Ford Motor Company; Ken Ward, 
plant manager, Ford Motor Company--Kansas City Assembly Plant; and Jim 
Stoufer, president, United Autoworkers of America Local 249, and 
chairman of the board of trustees, Village of Claycomo, MO.