Mideast Oil Independence? Not Exactly

January 29, 2006 – Vol.10 No.45

MID EAST OIL INDEPENDENCE? NOT EXACTLY.

Behind the rhetoric President Bush’s commitment to dramatically reduce oil imports from the Middle East is less, much less, than what the public hears. According a well-respected media outlet he wants to cut oil imports, but not necessarily from the Middle East.

In his state of the Union Address President Bush said this:

“We must also change how we power our automobiles. We will increase our research in better batteries for hybrid and electric cars, and in pollution-free cars that run on hydrogen. We'll also fund additional research in cutting-edge methods of producing ethanol, not just from corn, but from wood chips and stalks, or switch grass. Our goal is to make this new kind of ethanol practical and competitive within six years.”

“Breakthroughs on this and other new technologies will help us reach another great goal: to replace more than 75 percent of our oil imports from the Middle East by 2025. By applying the talent and technology of America, this country can dramatically improve our environment, move beyond a petroleum-based economy, and make our dependence on Middle Eastern oil a thing of the past. ”

Bush’s State of the Union oil addiction words were also echoed in an official, paid for, commercially-distributed press release from the White House

But the President’s statement is not exactly true, concludes a syndicated story from Knight Ridder Newspapers.

What the president meant to say is that the nation would attempt to cut oil imports by 75 percent of the equivalent amount of oil that might be imported from Middle East nations by 2025. Homegrown renewable fuels would displace those imports.

Knight Ridder received the correction of Bush’s words from Department of Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman and his advisors in a conference call.

Americans weren’t supposed to take the President literally. The U.S. will still get much of its oil from the Middle East in 2025 because that’s where most of the reserves are, they said.

Reportedly there were more than 30 versions of the State of the Union address, Thirty times and one paid-to-distribute press release to correct the misstatement, still nothing.

For the most part people will only remember the original statement as front page news. They will never see or hear the correction from the Department of Energy. Visit the White House at http://www.whitehouse.gov/ .