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WASHINGTON: President George W. Bush, intensifying a campaign to break America's reliance on foreign oil, on Tuesday unveiled plans to slash US gasoline usage and make its gas-guzzling cars greener.
In his annual State of the Union speech, Bush also called for a balanced budget within five years, and presented initiatives to reform immigration and health care.
The world's largest economy, he told the new Democratic-controlled Congress, was "on the move," with years of high deficits on course to be wiped out.
In the same speech a year ago, Bush warned that the United States was "addicted" to oil imported from hostile Middle East regimes.
This time, he called for a 20-percent cut in gasoline use, mainly by raising the supply of alternative fuels like ethanol by 35 billion gallons (133 billion liters), by 2017.
"For too long our nation has been dependent on foreign oil," Bush said in his prime-time speech.
"And this dependence leaves us more vulnerable to hostile regimes, and to terrorists – who could cause huge disruptions of oil shipments, raise the price of oil, and do great harm to our economy.
"It is in our vital interest to diversify America's energy supply – and the way forward is through technology."
Bush proposed that the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve be doubled to 1.5 billion barrels of oil by 2027, to guard against disruptions from natural disaster or terrorist attack.
Facing dismal poll ratings and a changed political landscape, Bush has been sounding less sceptical about the impact of global warming, but insists that the correct response is for voluntary action by governments and businesses.
In his speech, he asked Congress for powers to launch the first major changes to US auto fuel economy standards since the 1970s. The US fuel standards now lag those of Europe, Japan and China.
Bush's plan would cut annual emissions from cars, sport utility vehicles and light trucks by as much as 10 percent, the equivalent of erasing the annual emissions of 26 million automobiles, the White House said.
But some critics in Congress said Bush already had the authority to raise fuel standards -- seen as the single biggest contribution to making America more energy independent -- and was passing the buck.
"Our problem in dealing with the Bush administration is that when they want to send troops to fight for oil, they do that whether or not they have the authority," said Democratic Representative Edward Markey.
Seeking to regain control of his domestic policy agenda as opposition to the Iraq war intensifies, Bush pressed also for an overhaul of US immigration law and reforms to health care insurance to give coverage to more Americans.
A "guest worker" program would let unskilled foreigners in temporarily, he said, and leave border agents "free to chase down drug smugglers, and criminals, and terrorists."
The newly empowered Democrats are likely to back Bush in the immigration debate. But his health care push has been accused of increasing the middle-class tax burden.
On global warming, Bush is under pressure from an unlikely coalition ranging from the Christian right, via a new coalition of company bosses, to military grandees who worry about the US dependence on oil from places like Iran.
Jeff Bingaman, the Democratic chairman of the Senate's energy committee, said: "By essentially ducking the issue of taking a mandatory, economy-wide approach to the problem, the president has missed a real opportunity."
Global Insight auto analyst Bruce Harrison said that weaning America off big gas-guzzlers would require raising US fuel taxes to steep European levels – "and there's no politician seeking re-election who's going to do that." - AFP/so
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