Bush to Propose Reducing Gasoline Consumption

Expectations and speculation about Bush's energy plans have animated Washington for days as industry lobbyists, environmentalists and lawmakers tried to determine what it would mean for them and calibrate their responses. Even before Bush's proposals were made public, critics began attacking them as inadequate and tried to push alternative ideas.

In a statement today, Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said it "good that the president has put his toe in the water" on reducing fuel consumption, but he expressed skepticism that Bush's proposals would make much difference.

"The quickest, most efficient way to reduce gas imports and bring down prices is to increase fuel economy standards," Schumer said. "To just give the president authority is clearly not enough without a real commitment that he will improve fuel economy standards."

Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group founded by Ralph Nader, denounced Bush's energy plan as "a lot of empty rhetoric and, between the lines, some really bad ideas." It called ethanol "neither a clean nor renewable fuel" and noted that dual-fuel vehicles that can use either ethanol or gasoline are allowed to meet lower fuel economy standards even if they are never filled with ethanol. Moreover, the group said, the widespread use of ethanol is "impractical" because of infrastructure difficulties.

Public Citizen said Bush was likely to request authority to issue fuel economic standard for cars "on a sliding scale so that the larger the vehicle, the less fuel economy it has to achieve," a formula it said would be "perverse."

The group backed a recently passed House bill to revoke $14 billion in oil subsidies and dedicate the money to developing clean fuels and increasing energy efficiency. "But Bush has threatened a veto" of the bill, Public Citizen said, "showing that he remains beholden to Big Oil and other polluters."

The chief executives of 10 major corporations came to Washington yesterday to urge Bush to embrace binding caps on emissions that produce greenhouse gases, a position the president has adamantly rejected and, according to aides, still does not support. A separate group of 11 senators -- including eight Democrats, two Republicans and an independent -- proposed yesterday raising the average fuel economy standards for all vehicles from 25 miles per gallon to 35 miles per gallon by 2019.

"Raising the fuel economy of the cars and trucks we drive by 10 miles per gallon over 10 years is the simplest step we can take," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.). "This would reduce 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles by 2025. And it would save nearly the amount of oil we currently import from the Persian Gulf."

Bush has been pushing for alternative energy sources for years and in last year's State of the Union address declared that "America is addicted to oil," a statement that, coming from a former Texas oilman, attracted special attention. Bush set a goal in that address of replacing three-quarters of the oil now imported from the Middle East by 2025. But Democrats have been scornful of his proposals in the past.

Bush's attempts to reach out to the opposition on domestic policy tonight will be further complicated by the uproar over his decision to dispatch an additional 21,500 troops to Iraq. As he addresses a Congress controlled by Democrats for the first time since he took office, Bush faces deep skepticism inside the chamber, even within the House Republican leadership, which yesterday made proposals intended "to hold the Bush administration . . . accountable" for the progress of his latest Iraq plan.

The doubt on Capitol Hill reflects the continuing erosion of Bush's public support across the country. His approval rating is at the lowest level of his presidency, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, and only twice in the past six decades has a president delivered his annual speech to the nation in a weaker condition in the polls -- Harry S. Truman in the midst of the Korean War in 1952 and Richard M. Nixon in the throes of Watergate in 1974.

For the first time, majorities of Americans say Bush cannot be trusted in a crisis, has not made the country safer and should withdraw U.S. forces from Iraq to avoid further casualties rather than leave them until civil order is restored. And, in a sign of intensifying opposition, a majority -- 51 percent -- for the first time expressed strong disapproval of Bush's performance, compared with 17 percent who strongly approved.