By Brad Atzinger

A short portion of the State of the Union address, delivered by President George W. Bush last Tuesday, outlined a set of uncharacteristic proposals aimed at diversifying the nation’s energy supply. Bush called for a 20 percent decrease in American oil consumption over the next ten years.

At the University of Louisville, the attitudes towards the president’s new environmentally friendly initiatives were mixed.

“It is in our vital interest to diversify America’s energy supply ñ and the way forward is through technology,” Bush said. “We must continue changing the way America generates electric power.”

Among Bush’s proposed alternatives were clean coal, solar and wind energy, nuclear power and bio-diesel fuels made from agricultural wastes. The president said these measures will help the U.S. cut 75 percent of the imported oil from the Middle East, effectively lowering dependence, which “leaves us more vulnerable to hostile regimes and to terrorists.”

Senior Greg Bird, a justice administration major, said he felt that the energy proposals were “too little, too late. I wish they were stronger,” Bird said of the energy policies, “and that they had come much earlier in his presidency.

“We like to blame presidents and praise presidents for being able to enact a change – like weaning us off of foreign oil,” said political science professor Dr. Gary Gregg, “but the reality is that presidents can do very little in that area.”

“The American people’s demand for oil is going to have to change, and the president can’t do anything about that,” Gregg added. “When major economic changes come about like this, it’s usually because of some dynamic force in the market.”

A concession Bush may have made to the 110th Congress was the omission of any push for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, an issue that Bush supported throughout his presidency.

“Maybe [Bush] has finally realized that the American people don’t support drilling in the Refuge,” said Crystal Embs, a freshman undeclared major. “But Bush has a problem of contradicting himself, and it’s a bit cowardly of him to not support what he has believed in until now.”

Bush suggested alternative sources to energy including ethanol and other fuels made from agricultural wastes.

Speed School freshman Jared Hatfield responded positively to Bush’s remarks about hybrid technology for cars and nuclear energy for power plants. Hatfield felt that since auto builders are now turning a better profit on traditional cars, the government should support research to help ease the auto companies’ transition into more eco-friendly cars.

“I am for nuclear power too, though I wouldn’t want a plant in my backyard,” said Hatfield. “It would make Einstein happy.”