Bush makes his point on energy

Bush makes his point on energy
Birmingham News - Birmingham,AL,USA
... Topics discussed during the 30-minute meeting included new technologies for making ethanol, biodiesel and nuclear power, among other things. ...

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President George W. Bush used his trip to Hoover last week to stress a point - his administration is serious about alternative energy.

Inside a room at the Hoover Public Safety Center, he sat down with five Alabamians for a private conversation on the topic.

Phillip Wiedmeyer, who is associated with the Central Alabama Clean Cities group that promotes alternative energy sources, was one of them. The others were Gov. Bob Riley, Hoover Mayor Tony Petelos, Auburn University professor David Bransby and David Lindon, who manages Hoover's fleet of E85 vehicles.

Wiedmeyer came away convinced that Bush is serious about his pledge to reduce the nation's appetite for foreign crude, which he has described as an "addiction."

Topics discussed during the 30-minute meeting included new technologies for making ethanol, biodiesel and nuclear power, among other things. Climate change came up briefly. Conservation was not discussed.

"He views it, as he expressed it to us, as very important to lessen our dependence on foreign oil," Wiedmeyer said. "His commitment to it came across as strong."

A primary theme of the discussion was Bush's desire to diversify the nation's fuel mix to include more ethanol.

In Hoover, Bush got a look at the city's fleet of Chevy Tahoes that run on a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline and a pumping station for those vehicles. Wiedmeyer said Bush believes E85 vehicles can help make a difference.

"He thinks it's a no-brainer for consumers to purchase vehicles that can burn both fuels because there is little or no price difference," said Wiedmeyer, who works as director of the Applied Research Center of Alabama in Birmingham.

During the private meeting, Bush heard from Auburn's Bransby on research being conducted at the university on making ethanol from switchgrass, a better source than corn or soybeans because it's clean and more plentiful.

Bush later noted the point during the appearance at the Hoover E85 pumping station. After watching a city vehicle fueled up with the ethanol mix, he told a small crowd that using American-made fuels will lessen dependence on foreign oil.

"That's what we just witnessed," he told them.

The president heard from Wiedmeyer on the importance of pumping federal dollars and incentives into programs to increase the availability of alternatives such as E85, sold now at only a small number of stations. Wiedmeyer urged Bush to back policies that aim to push private capital into building an alternative-fuel infrastructure.

Wiedmeyer left the meeting full of hope that talk of pursuing alternative energy strategies won't evaporate with falling gasoline prices.

"If the president of the United States is that committed to this, then I am more optimistic than ever that it will happen," he said. Jerry Underwood is business editor of The News. His e-mail: junderwood@bhamnews.com.

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