Bush's Address Tackles Energy and Climate

America's addiction to gas-guzzlers is at last poised to receive some treatment. In his annual State of the Union address on Tuesday, President George W Bush announced a plan to cut US gasoline use by 20% over the coming decade.

"For too long our nation has been dependent on foreign oil," Bush told the US Congress. "It is in our vital interest to diversify America's energy supply, and the way forward is through technology."

Three quarters of the proposed cut would be achieved by requiring the use of 35 billion gallons of renewable and alternative fuels – including ethanol and hydrogen – by 2017. This is nearly five times larger than the current target, which must be met by 2012. The rest of the cut in gasoline use would be made by strengthening the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards for new vehicles.