WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush, wary of the political cost of sky-high gas prices, was to unveil incentives Wednesday for building refineries on closed military bases and erecting new nuclear power plants.
Bush, whose approval ratings have dipped in recent polls to some of the lowest levels of his presidency, will not urge Americans to curb their consumption but will say that technology can improve efficiency, aides said.
He will push the US Congress to include the proposals in his energy plan -- which has stalled in the Senate -- even though the White House acknowledges that the legislation will not have an impact on gas prices for years.
"This is all part of our comprehensive approach to making us more energy independent and reducing our dependence on foreign sources of energy," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.
It was to be Bush`s second energy speech in a week, and the remarks came two days after the president and Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz failed at talks in Texas to agree on a short-term fix for sky-high prices.
McClellan denied that Bush, a former oil company executive, was reacting to his slipping poll numbers or to criticisms over the fact that the president did not ask the crown prince to increase output.
"This is a high priority for the administration. We`ve always looked at ways to continue reducing our dependence on foreign sources of energy," said McClellan.
No new refineries have been built in the United States in 30 years. The newest nuclear power plants were built a decade ago.
Bush will seek congressional approval for providing federal risk insurance to companies looking to build nuclear power plants, in an effort to mitigate the additional cost of unforeseen delays as the firms seek licenses.
He will propose broadening the reach of a 10-year, 2.5-billion-dollar tax credit problem now available to hybrid gasoline-electric and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles to cover those powered by clean-burning diesel.
Clean-burn diesel and hybrid automobiles "have a tremendous potential to reduce fuel demand and improve fuel-efficiency in the auto fleet," one Bush aide said Tuesday in a White House briefing held on condition officials not be named.
He will also push for cooperation between Washington and states hurt economically by job-losses following the closure of military bases to see whether those sites could accommodate new oil refineries.
Bush will ask lawmakers to give the federal government, rather than individual states, the authority to determine the location of new liquefied natural gas terminals.
The president was not expected, however, to ask Americans to consume less energy.
In early 2001, Vice President Dick Cheney -- also a former oil company executive -- said that "conservation may be a sign of personal virtue, but it is not a sufficient basis for a sound, comprehensive energy policy."
That same year, then-White House spokesman Ari Fleischer dismissed a question about whether the US lifestyle`s voracious energy appetite was to blame for costly gasoline by answering: "That`s a big no ... the American way of life is a blessed one."
04/27/2005 15:44 GMT