NRDC CALLS FOR GREATER SUPPORT FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY

The President's Focus Today Is Just One Small Step

WASHINGTON (Oct. 12, 2006) --- In a scheduled appearance today at the "Advancing Renewable Energy" conference in St. Louis, President Bush plans to highlight ways to expand the use of domestically-produced renewable energy that would reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.

Below are the views of two experts at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

"The president is right to focus on the vast potential of biofuels, and wind and solar energy, but to truly end our national oil addiction, we also need to turn to the solutions already available today-like stronger fuel-economy performance standards for all vehicles, and hybrid vehicles," said Nathanael Greene, a senior energy policy analyst at NRDC. "Greater efficiency in our homes and buildings would go a long way as well toward reducing our fossil fuel consumption."

Jim Presswood, NRDC's federal energy advocate, urged the president to back up his support for clean, renewable energy sources with sufficient funding to get them to the market quickly. "The president's budget falls well short of his rhetoric when it comes to supporting the development of biofuels," Presswood said, noting that, in his 2007 budget, the president requested a mere $150 million for advanced biofuels development.

"That's at least $450 million less than what Congress authorized last year," Presswood said. "After a year of volatile and record-high gas price, surely we can do more to break our oil addiction."