Des Moines Register
10-13-06
Bush plugs bioenergy research
He focuses on the use of renewable fuels and calls for a concentrated effort
against dependence on foreign oil.
By ANNE FITZGERALD
REGISTER AGRIBUSINESS WRITER
St. Louis, Mo. - President Bush called Thursday for more research into
renewable energy and warned Americans to remain committed to ethanol and
other fuels.
"Gasoline prices are down, and that's good news," the president said at a
renewable energy conference, but that should not "make us complacent about
our future when it comes to energy."
Bush urged a comprehensive, diversified approach to weaning the United States
off dependence on foreign oil. He called for Congress to make a research tax
credit a permanent part of the federal tax code, rather than have it be renewed
annually. He also called on Americans to change habits that waste energy, and
for the public and private sectors to work together to boost the burgeoning
bioeconomy.
Such efforts will be good for the environment and for the country, Bush said,
adding that the future of the United States as the world's wealthiest nation is tied
inextricably with the future of energy.
The trend is particularly important to Iowa, the nation's No. 1 ethanol producer,
as well as to rural areas that have languished as agriculture has been
consolidated and population has declined.
"This country has got to use its talent and its wealth to get us off oil," Bush said
Thursday.
"It's important for national leadership to cheerlead sometimes," said Larry
Johnson, director of the Center for Crops Utilization Research at Iowa State
University in Ames and one of dozens of Iowans attending the conference.
Anthony Pometto, a professor in ISU's department of food science and
human nutrition, also heard the president's speech.
"I agree with him. We are at the beginning of a revolution in this country, and ISU
is leading it," Pometto said, pointing to ISU's national reputation as a hub of
biorenewables research and development.
In a 30-minute speech, the president mentioned various forms of renewable
energy, including ethanol, biodiesel, nuclear, wind and solar power, and he
encouraged people to push for investment in research and technological
advances. He spoke of a future with homes that use biorenewables to generate
their own power, and a future with more vehicles fueled by a combination of
electricity and gasoline.
A crowd of more than 1,000 people, including three Cabinet secretaries, state
and federal lawmakers, scientists, venture capitalists and bioenergy industry
executives, gathered at America's Center in downtown St. Louis to hear the
president speak.
Not everyone applauded Bush's remarks. Twenty minutes into his address, a
woman stood and shouted repeatedly, "Out of Iraq!" She continued to shout her
protests as local police and members of the Secret Service escorted her out.
Steve Varon, a New York City businessman and biorenewables entrepreneur
who attended the conference, recalled the 1970s when high-priced petroleum
sparked enthusiasm for alternative sources of energy.
"The country went into hibernation because the gas lines stopped," he said.
This time is different, Varon said, because of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks
in New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania. "It's a whole new ballgame,"
he said. "After 9/11, it all changed. We are constantly threatened now."
Bush acknowledged concerns that the booming bioenergy industry could suffer a
crash similar to the technology sector's bust in the 1990s. But he said ethanol
and biodiesel have taken hold in the heartland, and he predicted that the
movement will take off in more populous parts of the country, too.
"You have a lot of plants in the Midwest," Bush said. "The vision has got to be for
these plants to be able to spread throughout the entire country."
Reporter Anne Fitzgerald can be reached at (515) 284-8122 or
afitzgerald@dmreg.com