Bush Again Urges Congress To Overhaul U.S. Energy Policy

(Outlines proposals to diversify, modernize, conserve energy sources)

Following is the text of a March 9 White House fact sheet outlining
President Bush's priorities for reforming U.S. energy policy:

(begin fact sheet)

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
(Columbus, Ohio)
March 9, 2005

Fact Sheet Securing Our Nation's Energy Future

Today's Presidential Action

-- The President today visited Battelle Memorial Institute in Columbus,
Ohio, to view the energy technologies of the future and to reiterate his
call for Congress to pass a sound national energy policy.

-- The President called on Congress to pass a comprehensive energy bill
that meets four major objectives:� promoting conservation and efficiency,
increasing domestic production, diversifying the Nation's energy supply,
and modernizing the Nation's energy infrastructure.� These goals must be
pursued while also upholding our responsibility to be good stewards of the
environment.

Background On The President's Energy Policy

Since his first weeks in office, the passage of a comprehensive and
balanced national energy policy has been a top priority for President Bush
and his Administration.� President Bush has reiterated his call for a
comprehensive energy bill that includes the following key priorities:

Use Technology To Increase Conservation And Energy Efficiency

-- Promote energy efficiency and conservation through new efficiency
targets for the Federal government, increased funding for state efficiency
programs, and new efficiency standards for consumer products.

-- Provide tax incentives to promote hybrid and fuel-cell vehicles,
residential solar energy systems, combined heat and power projects, and
electricity produced from alternative and renewable sources such as wind,
solar, biomass, and landfill gas.

-- Authorize a wide range of energy technology research and development
programs to develop energy efficient next-generation energy technologies.

-- Extend the scope of the Energy Star program, a government/industry
partnership to promote energy efficient products.

Ensure A Clean And Affordable Diversity Of Fuels For Our Future
Electricity Supply

-- Expand the use of clean coal technology and enable a future for
America's most abundant resource through the President's FutureGen
Initiative and his 10-year Clean Coal Power Initiative which will reduce
emissions and improve the efficiency of existing and new coal-based power
plants.

-- Improve the hydroelectric re-licensing process while preserving
environmental goals.

-- Ensure a future for nuclear power as a viable and emissions-free
energy source by extending the Price-Anderson Act nuclear liability laws;
modifying the treatment of nuclear decommissioning funds; and by
constructing an environmentally safe permanent repository for spent
nuclear fuel.

Increase Domestic Energy Supplies And Protect The Environment

-- Allow environmentally responsible oil and gas development in ANWR.�
America must reduce its dependence on foreign sources of oil and natural
gas by encouraging safe and clean exploration at home.� Using the most
advanced technologies, the environmentally responsible exploration and
development of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) could provide up
to 1 million barrels per day of oil for the Nation's energy security from
less than 2,000 acres.

-- Increase the use of domestically produced ethanol and biodiesel as
transportation fuel through a flexible national renewable fuel standard
and credit trading system.

-- Increase production of fossil and renewable energy resources on
Federal and Tribal lands, including measures to expedite permitting for
new energy supply and siting of infrastructure.

-- Fill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to protect American consumers
from potentially severe oil supply disruptions.

Modernize And Expand Our Electricity Grid

-- Modernize our electricity grid by reforming outdated laws, promoting
open access to the transmission grid, promoting regional planning and
coordination, protecting consumers, and deploying new grid technologies.

-- Establish mandatory and enforceable reliability standards for
electric utilities to lessen the likelihood of transmission grid failures
and blackouts.

-- Expand investment in transmission and generation facilities by
repealing the Public Utility Holding Company Act (PUHCA) and providing
increased rates of return on new transmission investments.

-- Eliminate transmission bottlenecks by providing for last-resort
Federal siting authority for high-priority transmission lines and expedite
transmission permitting activities on Federal land.

Increase Domestic Energy Supplies Through Advanced Alternative
Technologies

-- Pursue the President's Hydrogen Fuel Initiative to help reduce our
dependence on foreign sources of oil by creating a new generation of
hydrogen-powered vehicles.

-- Pursue the President's commitment to the International Thermonuclear
Experimental Reactor (ITER), a research and development program for
producing energy from nuclear fusion.

Strengthen Energy Security For All Americans

-- Reduce heating and cooling costs of low-income households by
increasing funding for the Department of Energy's Weatherization
Assistance Program.

Background On Clear Skies

President Bush has again called on Congress to pass Clear Skies
legislation.

Clear Skies Will Cut Pollution.� The legislation mandates a dramatic and
steady 70-percent cut in air pollution from power plants, including the
first-ever national cap on mercury emissions:

-- Cuts sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions by 73 percent, from current
emissions of 11 million tons to a cap of 4.5 million tons in 2010 and to 3
million tons in 2018.

-- Cuts emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) by 67 percent, from current
emissions of 5 million tons to a cap of 2.1 million tons in 2008 and to
1.7 million tons in 2018.

-- Cuts mercury (Hg) emissions by 69 percent, from current emissions of
48 tons to a cap of 26 tons in 2010 and to 15 tons in 2018.

Clear Skies Will Improve Air Quality And Public Health.�� The
legislation will help communities across America meet the Environmental
Protection Agency's (EPA) new health-based standards for ozone and fine
particles.

-- Combined with new EPA requirements on diesel engine emissions, Clear
Skies will help thousands of Americans with asthma and other respiratory
illnesses and reduce the risks from mercury.

-- Clear Skies will also improve visibility in some of the most popular
national parks, and Clear Skies will improve the health of our ecosystems
by reducing acid rain and mercury deposition.

Clear Skies Uses A Proven, Market-Based Approach.� The legislation will
help communities reach air quality goals while keeping energy affordable
for American consumers and businesses.

-- Cuts pollution further, faster, cheaper, and with more certainty than
current clean air programs by using an emissions trading program that
creates an economic incentive for early reductions.

-- Encourages use of the newest technologies to control emissions from
coal-fired power plants.

-- Helps communities meet health-based air quality standards without
significantly increasing the price of electricity. This allows
manufacturers to expand and grow businesses and create jobs.

(end fact sheet)

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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