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.

Bush says that advances in solar, wind and nuclear energy couldchange the way Americans power their homes and offices, and thatboosting alternative fuels could revamp transportation.

"By changing our driving habits," Bush said, "we change ourdependency on foreign sources of oil."

Increasing the use of nuclear power is another piece of Bush'senergy package. The United States abandoned nuclear fuelreprocessing in the 1970s because of nuclear proliferationconcerns, but Bush favors a new approach that advocates say posesmuch less risk.

"I think we ought to start building nuclear power plantsagain," Bush said Monday. "I think it makes sense to do so."

Later in the day, Bush was to tour a solar energy plan in AuburnHills, Mich., underscoring his push for investment in cleanelectric power sources. He was then heading to Colorado, where heplanned to speak at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory onTuesday.