According to Grist, Sen. McCain will address a group of oil executives today on the subject of energy policy.

From his statements, the Senator is going to suggest that, 'We have proven oil reserves of at least 21 billion barrels in the United States, but a broad federal moratorium stands in the way of energy exploration and production. I believe it is time for the federal government to lift these restrictions and to put our own reserves to use.'

I admit, 21 billion sounds like a lot. Whether it's dollars or jelly beans, 21 billion is just a whole lot. But here's the thing. In 2006, the United States imported 10.118 million barrels of oil a day.

So, Mr. McCain, welcome back to math class. Those 21 billion barrels would replace our foreign oil imports for 5.68 years. My question is, 'well, what then, Mr. Senator?'

Oh by the way, that's assuming our imports don't increase at all over time.

And this is the problem with calling for more drilling - we simply don't have the oil, domestically, to sustain our demand. The bottom line is we need to break free from oil.

In Idaho John Hofmeister, the president of Shell Oil, called for more drilling wherever he can get it. "The U.S. prohibits access to its own natural resources..we need more oil and gas, whether it's onshore Alaska, or offshore Alaska."

He then went on to sing the praises of going after Alberta's oil sands and oil shale in Colorado, never mind the fact that oil recovery from shale is highly questionable.

How many times do I have to say this? With less than 2% of the world's remaining supply of oil, the United States will never be able to drill its way to energy independence. It simply cannot happen.

Hofmeister then went on to claim that Shell supports carbon caps federally, and not some 'patchwork' of regulations put into place by the states.

Hey John, here's an idea - why not impose carbon caps yourself? Why wait for some pesky federal legislation that isn't going to come for at least a year, and, I don't know, take the lead yourself?

First of all, thank you to Dan and the rest of the Environmental Action team for inviting me to blog here while Dan is on vacation. I hope you all enjoy my posts as much as Dan's.

As you've probably seen or heard already, the "father of the hybrid car," David Hermance, died in a plane crash on Saturday. The condolences of the entire Environmental Action team go out to his friends and family. Dave was the Executive Engineer for Advanced Technology Vehicles for Toyota, and oversaw the development and launch of the Prius.

But let's talk about David's legacy, and what hybrid cars are doing for our country (besides reducing pollution and using less gas).

In an interview with Alan Alda (yes, that Alan Alda) for the PBS program "Scientific American Frontiers" in 2004, David Hermance was asked, "If [the Prius] is so good, why don't you just say to them, here's the car for you, and this is the one you're going to get because this gets the best mileage, it performs just like the car you've been driving, only this is better. Costs about the same and so now that's the car that you can buy. Why offer them others that are not as good?"

Dave's response shows just how far we've come since 2004: "Well, in the US, sad to say, folks don't largely value fuel economy. Most of the population of the US is not convinced that global warming is real or that cars have anything to do with it."

You can read the rest of this transcript here, if you're interested.

Since this interview, sales of hybrid cars in the US (lead by the Prius) have skyrocketed (Jan. 2006 report, Top Ten Hybrids of 2006), and global warming has taken center stage as the environmental issue facing our country and our world in the minds of a growing number of Americans.

This sea change shows no sign of slowing, and it is the result of countless hours of work by scientists, activists like you and me, and even an ex-Vice President to spread the word about global warming and the dangers it poses to our planet.

The fact that hybrid cars were introduced and marketed as green alternatives over six years ago is also an important reason why global warming, energy independence, and fuel efficiency loom larger on the radar screens of many Americans today. Dave's legacy is one not only of technological innovation, but also one of raising awareness of probably the biggest challenge to ever confront us as a species.

Thanks to innovators like David Hermance, we are in a better position today to stop global warming before we feel its worst effects. Dave understood that sometimes you have to introduce the change before the "market researchers" say we're ready for it. He didn't wait until global warming was making headlines to do something about it, and we need more leaders like him in both our government and energy and transportation industries. The time to create real change is now. Hybrid cars were the beginning, but we need to go much further.

Dave's sudden death is tragic. He was 59, and the engine in his small plane apparently just stopped running while he was flying off the coast of California. It is comforting, however, to know that he lived long enough to see the early success of his work.

Dave, we'll miss you, but we promise to pick up where you left off. Thanks.

I've been meaning to post on this for awhile - it didn't get much traction online so far, but is pretty amazing. According to 9News in Denver, SUV owners have been setting their vehicles on fire because they can't afford to drive them, and the resale on them has plummeted because of the spike in gas prices.

According to The Colorado Department of Public Safety and Division of Fire Safety, there has been a 1086% increase in intentional vehicle fires from 2000 to 2005 (from 7 in 2000 to 83 in 2005).

It's completely ridiculous that it's come to this -

We have the capability to break free from oil, and we obviously have the need - where is the leadership?

It's near impossible to listen to a political speech on energy independence without hearing the refrain "If Brazil can do it, so can we!" Yes, Brazil is now effectively energy independent. But the lesson we can learn from them might surprise you.

Here's a week-old post at Oil Drum, which breaks down the numbers showing that:

the reason they achieved energy independence is primarily because of their frugal energy usage, not because of ethanol. Increase their energy usage to U.S. levels, and the "energy independence miracle" would quickly vanish. This is the factor that the media and the politicians have overlooked...

The real lesson from Brazil is that energy independence can be achieved by slashing our energy usage. (emphasis added) It is simply not realistic to expect the U.S. to achieve energy independence with biofuels - unless we sharply curb our consumption.

Check out the whole post so you know exactly which way the Brazilian bandwagon is headed. It's about conservation, stupid.

Apparently the American Petroleum Institute agrees that "boutique fuels" are not the cause of high gas prices. According to a story in a E&E Daily, API testified today that environmental regulations requiring different types of fuel for different areas are not the cause of rising gas prices. Instead, they said that...wait for it...crude oil prices are the cause.

Well I'll be darned. Looks like Rep. Joe Barton's effort to address the rise in gas prices by gutting environmental regulations isn't going to do that much after all.

The American Public Transportation Association is asking people to Dump the Pump on June 8, and ride public transit. And their site has a neat state-by-state tool for finding options in your area.

Of course, the value of these "change your habits for a day" events (like "Buy Nothing Day") have little to do with their impact on any given day and are clearly consciousness raising experiences. Though I do wonder whether this one could backfire for some people.

If a significantly higher number of people actually end up riding the subway/bus/train on June 8, it could lead to public transit being a lot more crowded than it usually is, effectively turning people off of transit. Now I'm likely overstating this issue, but from an academic perspective, that would clearly be the case at a certain point.

Still any effort to get people out of their cars and into mass transit should be supported. Would be even smarter if the federal goverment could dip into their coffers and offer a free transit week. Then we'd really get people hooked.

The blogging these days has been pathetic—lot of work going into Dependence Day, blah, blah blah. We'll pick it up soon, I promise.

Anyway, you can always count on Toles for an easy post. Enjoy.

Oil prices are high. The public is demanding action. Congress is making speeches. Oil companies have seized the opportunity.

President Bush announced today that in response to high gas prices he's going to waive environmental regulations. That should do the trick.

Wasn't this the same President who just a few days ago (on Earth Day) said that we could have a clean environment and a healthy economy? Apparently April Fool's Day is getting harder to distinguish from Earth Day.

Today's announcement was made at a "major" speech given by the President before the Renewable Fuels Association. The text of the full speech is below the fold, but here's how things break down:

Demand Solutions: Increase consumer tax credits for efficient cars

Supply Solutions: Stop filling SPR, waive environmental regulations, review boutique fuels, build more refineries, drill in ANWR, and ethanol.

Fair and Balanced, wouldn't you say?

PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you all. Please be seated. (Cheers, applause.) Thank you all for coming. Proud you're here. Please be seated. (Cheers, applause.) Thank you all. Bob, thanks for the introduction. It's always good to be introduced by somebody's who's referred to as the "promoter in chief." (Laughter.) For 25 years, the Renewable Fuels Association has been a tireless advocate for ethanol producers. Your advocacy is paying off. Renewable energy is one of the great stories of recent years, and it's going to be a bigger story in the years to come. (Applause.) I like the idea of talking to people who are growing America's energy security. I -- I like the idea of policy that combines agriculture and modern science with the energy needs of the American people. I'm here to talk to you about the contributions you are making, and I'm here to talk to you about the need for this country to get off our dependency of oil.

And so I want to thank Bob for the invitation.
I want to thank Ron Miller, the chairman of the Renewable Fuels Association.

I want to thank -- thank the board of directors and the members of the Renewable Fuels Association.

I thank the members of my administration who are here. Clay Sell, who's the deputy secretary of Energy, has joined us.
I see members of the United States Congress who are here.
I appreciate Jack Kingston of Georgia, Jerry Weller of Illinois and Gil Gutknecht of Minnesota for joining us. Thank you all for your interest in this very important subject. (Applause.)

Before I talk about energy, I do want to share with you some thoughts about the war on terror. I just got off of a conference -- a video conference with our strong ally Tony Blair, and we were talking about a major development that is taking place in the war on terror. After months of patient negotiations, Iraqi leaders reached an agreement on a unity government. And that's positive. This is a government -- (interrupted by applause). This new leadership reflects the diversity of Iraq, and it reflects the will of the Iraqi people who defied the terrorists and killers and went to the polls last December.
This new government is an important milestone for a free Iraq, and it's the beginning of a new chapter in our relationship with the Iraqi people. When I was in California over the weekend, I had the opportunity to speak to the three leaders -- the president, the speaker and the prime minister-designate. I congratulated them on their courage and encouraged them to stand strong for the Iraqi people. I reminded them the people had voted, the people had expressed their desire for democracy and unity, and now there's a chance for these leaders to stand up and lead.

I told them that they have important responsibilities to their people -- to rebuild infrastructure and to improve their economy and enhance security. I was pleased with the response I got.

It's important for the American people to know that these three leaders appreciate the sacrifice that our troops have made and that our taxpayers have made to help them realize a dream, and the dream is to live in a unified, free society. A free Iraq is in the interest of the United States of America. A free Iraq will be a part of laying the peace for generations to come, and a free Iraq will be a major defeat for the terrorists who still want to do us harm. Prime -- (interrupted by applause).

We got good news here at home on the economic front, too. This economy of ours is growing, and the entrepreneurial spirit in America is strong. We've cut the taxes for everybody who paid income taxes, and that tax relief is getting results. Last year our economy grew faster than any major industrialized nation. Since August of 2003, this economy of ours has created 5.1 million new jobs. The unemployment rate nationwide is 4.7 percent. That's lower than the average rate of the '60s, '70s, '80s and '90s. The American people are working. (Applause.)

Farm income's up. Agricultural exports are growing. Real after- tax income is up over 8 percent per American since 2001. Productivity is high. More people own a home than ever before in our nation's history. This economy is strong, and we intend to keep it that way. And one way to keep it that way is to make the tax cuts permanent. (Applause.)

Yet amongst this hopeful -- these hopeful signs, there's an area of serious concern, and that is high energy prices. And the prices that people are paying at the gas pumps reflect our addiction to oil. Addiction to oil is a matter of national security concerns. After all, today we get about 60 percent of our oil from foreign countries. That's up from 20 years ago, where we got oil from -- about 25 percent of our oil came from foreign countries.

Now, part of the problem is -- is that some of the nations we rely on for oil have unstable governments or agendas that are hostile to the United States. These countries know we need their oil, and that reduces our influence, our ability to -- to keep the peace in some areas.

And so energy supply is a matter of national security. It's also a matter of economic security. What people are seeing at their gas -- at their gas -- gasoline pumps reflects the global economy in which we live.

See, when demand for oil goes up in China or India, two fast-growing economies, it affects the price of oil worldwide. And when the price of crude oil goes up, because it's such an important part of the price of gasoline, the average citizen sees the price of gasoline go up at the pump.

Gasoline price increases are like a hidden tax on the working people. They're like a tax on our farmers. They're like a tax on small businesses. Energy prices are -- energy experts predict gas prices are going to remain high throughout the summer, and that's going to be a continued strain on the American people.
And so the fundamental question is, what are we going to do? What can the government do?

The -- one of the past responses by government, particularly from the party of which I'm not a member -- (scattered laughter) -- has been to have -- to propose price-fixing or an increase to taxes. Those -- those -- those plans haven't worked in the past. I think we need to follow suit on what we have been emphasizing, particularly through the energy bill, and that is to encourage conservation, to expand domestic production, and to develop alternative sources of energy like ethanol. (Applause.)

Signing the energy bill was one thing -- and I want to thank the members of Congress for getting a comprehensive energy bill to my desk -- but there's a lot more to be done.
First thing is to make sure that the American consumers are treated fairly at the gas pump. Americans understand by and large that the price of crude oil is going up and that the prices are going up, but what they don't want and will not accept is -- is manipulation of the market, and neither will I. The Federal Trade Commission is investigating whether price of gasoline has been unfairly manipulated in any way. I'm also directing the Department of Justice to work with the FTC and the Energy Department to conduct inquiries into illegal manipulation or cheating related to the current gasoline prices.
The FTC and the attorney general are contacting 50 state attorney generals to offer technical assistance to urge them to investigate possible illegal price manipulation within their jurisdictions. In other words, this administration is not going to tolerate manipulation. We expect our consumers to be treated fairly.
To reduce gas prices, our energy companies have got a role to play. Listen, at record prices these energy companies have got large cash flows, and they need to reinvest those cash flows into expanding refining capacity or researching alternative energy sources or developing new technologies or expanding production in environmentally-friendly ways. That's what the American people expect. We expect there to be strong reinvestment to help us with our economic security needs and our national security needs.
Record oil prices and large cash flows also mean that Congress has got to understand that these energy companies don't need unnecessary tax breaks, like the write-offs of certain geological and geophysical expenditures or use of taxpayers' monies to subsidize energy companies' research into deep-water drilling. I'm looking forward to Congress to take about $2 billion of these tax breaks out of the budget over a 10-year period of time. Cash flow is up; taxpayers don't need to be paying for certain of these expenses on behalf of the energy companies. (Applause.)

The second part of a good plan is -- to confront high gasoline prices is to promote greater fuel efficiency, and the easiest way to promote fuel efficiency is to encourage drivers to purchase highly efficient hybrid or clean-diesel vehicles, which, by the way, can run on alternative energy sources. Hybrid vehicles run on a combination of a traditional engine and electric battery. The twin sources of power allow hybrid cars and trucks to travel about twice as far on a gallon of fuel as gasoline-only vehicles. When people are driving hybrids, they're conserving energy.

Clean-diesel vehicles take advantage of advances in diesel technology to run on 30 percent less fuel than gasoline vehicles do, and more than 200,000 hybrid and clean-diesel vehicles were sold in the United States last year. It's the highest sales in history.
Congress wisely, in the energy bill, expanded the tax credit for purchases of hybrid and clean-diesel vehicles up to as much as up to $3,400 per purchase. That made sense. If we're trying to conserve energy, if we want to become less dependent on oil, let's provide incentives for consumers to use less energy. The problem is that these tax credits apply to only a limited number of hybrid and clean- diesel vehicles for each manufacturer. The automobile -- if the automakers sell more than their limit, new purchasers are not eligible for the full tax credit.

And so here's an idea that can get more of these vehicles on the road, and that is to have Congress make all hybrid and clean-diesel vehicles sold this year eligible for federal tax credits. We want to encourage people to make wise choices when it comes to the automobiles they drive.

Third part of the plan to confront high gas prices is to boost our supplies of crude oil and gasoline. It makes sense. We're in the supply-and-demand world. If prices are high, it means demand is greater than supply. One way to ease price is to increase supply.
One immediate way we can signal to people we're serious about increasing supply is to stop making purchases or deposits to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve for a short period of time. Directed the Department of Energy to defer filling the reserve this summer. Our strategic reserve is sufficiently large enough to guard against any major supply disruption over the next few months. So by deferring deposits until the fall, we'll leave a little more oil on the market. Every little bit helps.

We also need to ensure that there are not needless restrictions on our ability to get gasoline to the pump.

Under federal quality -- air quality laws, some areas of the country are required to use a fuel blend called reformulated gasoline.
Now, as you well know, this year we're going -- undergoing a rapid transition in the primary ingredient in reformulated gas from MTBE to ethanol. And I appreciate the role the ethanol producers are playing to meet this challenge. You're playing a vital role.

Yet state and local officials in some parts of our country worry about supply disruption for the short term. They worry about the sudden change from MTBE to ethanol, the ethanol producers won't be able to meet the demand, and that's causing the price of gasoline to go up some amount in their jurisdictions. And some have contacted us to determine whether or not they can ask the EPA to waive local fuel requirements on a temporary basis.

And I think it makes sense that they should be allowed to, so I'm directing EPA Administrator Johnson to use all his available authority to grant waivers that would relieve critical fuel supply shortages. And I do that for the sake of our consumers. If Johnson finds that he needs more authority to relieve the problem, we're going to work with Congress to obtain the authority he needs.
Secondly, we also need to confront the larger problem of too many localized fuel blends, which are called boutique fuels. The number of boutique fuels has expanded rapidly over the years, and America now has an uncoordinated and overly complex set of fuel rules. And when you have an uncoordinated, overly complex set of fuel rules, it tends to cause the price to go up.

And so I'm asking director -- directing Administrator Johnson to bring the governors together to form a task force on boutique fuels. And the mission of this task force will be to find ways to reduce the number of boutique fuels and to increase cooperation between states on gasoline supply decisions. Want to simplify the process for the sake of our consumers. And then I'm asking them to get these recommendations to my desk, and I look forward to working with the United States Congress to simplify the process.

Listen, we need to expand our refining capacity. One of the problems we face is that we got tight supplies because we haven't expanded refining capacity. There hasn't been a new refinery built in 30 years. If you're worried about the price of gasoline at the pump, it makes sense to try to get more supply to the market. That will be beneficial for American consumers to get more supply to the market.
Part of the reasons why we haven't expanded or built new refineries to the extent we need to is because the permitting process in this country is extremely complicated. Companies that want to upgrade their equipment or expand their existing refineries or build new ones often have to wade through long, bureaucratic delays and/or lawsuits. To make this gasoline supply more affordable and more secure, Congress needs to allow refiners to make modifications on their refineries without having to wait for years to get something -- to get their idea approved. I mean, if we want more supply, let's reduce the paperwork in the regulations. Congress also to simplify and speed up the permitting process for refinery construction and expansion. And so I'm going to work with Congress. It's important for Congress to cut through the red tape and guarantee refinery construction permits will be processed within a single year.

We also need to be mindful of the fact that we can find additional crude oil in our own country in environmentally-friendly ways. The technology is such that we're capable of environmentally- sensitive exploration. We got tight crude oil supplies, and it seems like it makes sense for us to use our new technologies to find more crude, particularly crude here at home.

One of the issues that you know that has been confronting Congress is ANWR. And I fully recognize that the passage of ANWR will not increase the oil supply immediately. But it's also important to understand that if ANWR had been law a decade ago, America would be producing about a million additional barrels of oil a day, and that would increase our current level of domestic supply by 20 percent. Listen, we got to be wise about energy policy here in America.
We got to make sure that we protect the environment. We also got to make sure that we find additional supplies of crude oil in order to take the pressure off the price of crude, which takes the pressure off the price of gasoline at the pump.

And all I've outlined here today are interim strategies, short- term and interim strategy. The truth of the matter is, the long-term strategy is to power our automobiles with something other than oil -- (applause) -- something other than gasoline which is derived from oil. And we're making progress.

In my State of the Union address, I talked about the Advanced Energy Initiative. This is an aggressive plan, a wise way of using taxpayers' money to get us off our addiction to oil. We have a unique opportunity to continue forward with this plan. Technology is the way really to help us -- to help change America for the better. Years of investment in fuels like ethanol have put us on the threshold to major breakthroughs, and those breakthroughs are becoming a reality for our consumers.

It's -- I've set a goal to replace oil from around the world. The best way and the fastest way to do so is to expand the use of ethanol. The Advanced Energy Initiative is focused on three promising ways to reduce gasoline consumption: one is increasing the use of ethanol; another is improving hybrid vehicles; and finally, one is developing hydrogen technology. All three go hand in hand. All three are an important part of a strategy to help us diversify away from hydrocarbons.

Ethanol is -- has got the largest potential for immediate growth.
Most people may not know this, but today, most of ethanol produced in America today is from corn. Most vehicles can use 10 percent ethanol in their automobiles. What's interesting that Americans don't realize is with a little bit of expenditure, we can convert a, you know, a kind of the standard automobile to what's called a FlexFuel automobile.

And that FlexFuel vehicle can use ethanol that is -- or fuel that is 85 percent ethanol. Amazing, isn't that? Without much cost, your automobile can be converted to be able to burn fuel with 85 percent ethanol or a product made from corn grown right here in America.
Ethanol is a versatile fuel, and the benefits are -- the benefits are, you know, easy to recognize, when you think about it. One, the use of ethanol in automobiles is good for the agricultural sector. I'm one of these people who believes when the agricultural sector is strong, America is -- America's strong. (Applause.)

The way I like to put it -- it's a good thing when a president can sit there and say, "Gosh, we got a lot of corn," and it means we're less dependent on foreign sources of oil. (Chuckles.) (Applause.) It -- years back, they'd say, "Oh, gosh, we got a lot of corn," and worried about the price. Ethanol's good for our rural communities. It's good economic development for rural America. You know, new biorefinery construction creates jobs and local tax revenues. When the farmer -- when the family farmer's doing well, it's good for the local -- the local merchants.

Ethanol is good for the environment. I keep emphasizing that we can be good stewards of our environment and at the same time continue with our economic expansion. Ethanol will help meet that strategy. You don't have to choose between good environment and -- and -- and good economics. You can have both by the use of technology. And ethanol is an example of what I'm talking about. And ethanol's good for drivers. Ethanol is homegrown. Ethanol will -- will replace gasoline consumption. It's a good -- it's -- ethanol's good for the whole country, and we've been -- (prolonged applause).
I thought you'd like that. (Laughter.)

The ethanol industry is booming. It must be exciting to have worked for as long as you have on encouraging alternative sources of energy and then all of a sudden see the work come to fruition. Last year America used a record 4 billion gallons of ethanol. There are now 97 ethanol refineries in our country, and nine of those are expanding and 35 more are under construction. The ethanol industry is on the move, and America is better off for it.

Many of these refineries are in the Midwest, Midwest because that is where the source of the -- you know, the feedstock for ethanol comes from. That happens to be corn. But it's really interesting, there are new plants springing up in unexpected areas, like the Central Valley of California, or Arizona, or, of course, in the sugar fields of Hawaii. After all, sugar is also a -- is a -- can be used for ethanol. As a matter of fact, it's a very efficient feedstock for ethanol.

Ethanol is a -- required our support. In other words, to get this new industry going, it required a little nudge from the federal government. Since I took office, we've extended the tax credit of 51 cents per gallon for suppliers. We've created a new 10-cent-per- gallon tax credit to provide extra help to small ethanol producers and farmers. We've provided $85 million of loans and grants for the ethanol business ventures. In other words, it's a collaborative effort. The federal government has got a role to play to encourage new industries that will help this nation diversify away from oil.
And so we're strongly committed to corn-based ethanol produced in America, yet there are -- you got to recognize there are limits to how much corn can be used for ethanol. I mean, after all, we got to eat some. (Laughter.) And the animals have got to eat. And so I am committed to furthering technological research to find other ways, other sources for ethanol.

We're -- we're working on research -- strong research for -- to figure out cellulosic ethanol that can be made from wood chips or stalks or switch grass. These materials are sometimes waste products and just simply thrown away, and doesn't it make sense for us -- I think it does -- to use taxpayers' money to determine whether or not we can use these new -- these raw materials to make something out of nothing, so that we continue the advance of ethanol and so the market for ethanol expands throughout the United States? We're spending -- I proposed -- and I'm working with these members of the Renewable Caucus -- $150 million in next year's budget for research in advanced forms of ethanol, and that's a significant increase over previous levels. I think it makes sense. And surely the prices at the gas pump should say to the taxpayer it makes sense for this government to spend money on research and development to find alternative sources of energy. (Applause.)

I also support biodiesel fuel, which can -- (applause) -- which can substitute for regular diesel in cars, trucks, buses and farm equipment. I -- last year I went out to see a biodiesel refinery in Virginia that's making clean-burning fuel from soybean oil, and it was a really interesting process to watch. It's -- it's -- it's -- it's -- I don't know if you know this or not, but they're -- they're able to -- they use waste products like recycled cooking grease to manufacture biodiesel. In other words, research and development has led to new alternative sources of energy like biodiesel. And so that's one of the reasons why I signed into law the first-ever federal tax credit for biodiesel producers.

In other words, we're interested in addressing our energy security needs on a variety of fronts. It makes sense for the United States to have a comprehensive strategy to help us diversify away from oil. And so we also got to understand that we got to research not only to find -- to invest in ethanol and biodiesel, but part of our comprehensive strategy is to spend money on researching new battery technologies.
And one of the really interesting opportunities available for the American consumer will be the ability to buy a plug-in hybrid vehicle that will be able to drive up to 40 miles on electricity. Seems to make sense to me. If we're trying to get us off gasoline with crude oil as the main -- as its main feedstock, then why wouldn't we explore ways to be able to have vehicles that use less gasoline? And one way to do so is to use electricity to power vehicles, and we're pretty close to a breakthrough. We believe we're close to a technology that will make it possible to drive up to 40 miles on electricity alone. And then if you have to drive more than 40, then your gasoline kicks in.

But you can imagine what that'll mean for a lot of drivers in big cities. You know, on a daily basis, they don't drive over 40 miles, and so therefore, a lot of drivers that are going back to forth from work in big cities won't be using gasoline, and that's going to help. We got $31 million in our budget to speed up research and development into advanced battery technologies.

And finally, one other opportunity that is more long-run than ethanol or biodiesel or plug-in hybrid vehicles or encouraging people to buy the hybrids that are on the market today is hydrogen.
We're spending about $1.2 billion over five years to research the use of hydrogen to power vehicles. And it makes a lot of sense, when you think about it, because hydrogen produces zero emissions. The only -- the only emission it produces is water.

And I -- when I was out there in California, I visited the California Fuel Cell Partnership and saw buses and cars and SUVs that are driving on the highways out there with -- powered by hydrogen. And the research and development money that we have spent has lowered the cost of hydrogen fuel cells. It's helped, you know, make them lighter. In other words, there's an industry coming, and it's -- it's an industry that will enable consumers to drive to work -- just like we're doing today -- but not rely on foreign sources of oil.
What I'm describing to you today is a strategy that recognizes the realities of the world in which we live. Our dependency on oil has -- you know, has created economic security issues for us and national security issues for us. And therefore this country must use our brainpower and entrepreneurial spirit to diversify away from the hydrocarbon economy. You -- you all have known this a lot longer than most Americans. You've known that we needed to have this strategy, and that's why you're on forefront of incredible changes that are taking place in this country.

You know, there's no doubt in my mind that one of these days, instead of people driving up to a gas station, they're going to be going up to a fueling station. And they'll be able to have choices to choose from. If you've got a hydrogen, you know, -powered car, you'll be able to have that choice. If you want 85 percent -- maybe someday a hundred -- percent ethanol, that'll be an option available, too. We owe it to the American people to be aggressive on price-gouging now. We owe it to the American people to be promoting alternative ways to drive their car, so as to make us less dependent on foreign sources of oil. We owe it to the American people to be aggressive in the use of technology, so we can diversify away from the hydrocarbon society.
And that's precisely what we're doing, and I'm glad to stand with you. I appreciate your work for the United States of America. Thank you for letting me come by and talk to you, and may God bless you. (Applause.)