Bush Touts Energy Alternatives on Midwestern Tour
— -- MILWAUKEE - Seeking to fuel his own agenda, President Bushencouraged Americans to change their energy consumption habits andhelp move the nation away from its reliance on oil.
"I think we're in an important moment in history," Bush saidduring his first stop of a Presidents' Day tour of the Midwest."We have a chance to transform the way we power our economy, andthe way we lead our lives."
Bush spoke Monday at the buildings division of Johnson ControlsInc., which sells products designed to make its customers'properties more energy efficient.
The president and members of his Cabinet are crisscrossing thecountry this week to tout the energy ideas he presented in hisState of the Union address. The focus on energy is part of aneffort in each of the weeks since the speech to highlight adifferent topic.
Bush's broad goal is to steer the nation toward energyindependence and away from what he calls an addiction to oil - ahabit he says threatens the nation's economy and security. Bush has placed energy improvement alongside education andhealth care as essential parts of making the U.S. more competitivewith its global peers.
But energy is also a political issue in this midterm electionyear, one that hits home for people dealing with expensive winterheating and gasoline costs.
Democrats have derided Bush's proposals as recycled ideas thatoffer no short-term relief.
In Wisconsin, Bush put technological advancement in everydayterms - cell phone batteries that last longer, and lighterautomotive parts that allow cars to go farther on a gallon of gas.
Earlier Monday, in nearby Glendale, Wis., Bush toured atechnology center of Johnson Controls, which is also a prominentmaker of automotive batteries. The company recently launched a newlab to study power-storage for hybrid-electric vehicles, an ideathat Bush embraces.
At the site, Bush peered into the back end of two Ford Escapes,one equipped with a nickel-metal hydride battery, the other with anewer Lithium-ion battery that was about half the size.
