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CNN Live Saturday

Bush Calls for Energy Conservation

Aired May 12, 2001 - 12:17   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DONNA KELLEY, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush says that conservation will be a key part of his energy strategy. Mr. Bush is due to unveil his national strategy next week, and CNN's White House correspondent Kelly Wallace joins us with more -- Kelly.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Donna, Democrats and environmentalists have accused President Bush of focusing too much on increasing the supply of oil and natural gas and not enough on encouraging conservation. Well, the White House says it has always been focusing on both, but it does appear to be touting its conservation ideas now more than ever.

And so today, President Bush, who happens to be spending the weekend at Camp David, devoted his entire weekly radio address to what he called the conservation for the 21th century, saving power through improvements in technology, and the president said we can do this without changing the way we live.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Some think that conservation means doing without. That does not have to be the case. It can mean building censors in the new buildings to shut the lights off as soon people leave the room. It can mean upgrading the transmission lines that deliver electricity to your home, so less is wasted on the way. It can mean encouraging homeowners to invest in energy improvements.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: And the White House also released a few specifics the president will announce when he unveils his report on Thursday. Those include providing tax credits to encourage consumers to buy more fuel- efficient, hybrid cars, which use gas and electricity.

Also, expanding the Energy Department's program which rates the energy efficiency of appliances and office buildings to include schools and stores and health care facilities and also other homes. And also to provide incentive to businesses, to encourage them to use more efficient heat and power systems.

Now, what president will not propose in his report is any short- term solution to the rising prices at the pump. With some consumers paying as much as $2 per gallon in parts of the country, estimates are that the price could go up to as high as $3 per gallon in parts of the U.S. this summer.

The president said there are no short-term fixes to a problem which he says has been long in coming. He said the main problem and the main solution is to build more oil refineries. That is something that he will propose in his report. He did say, though, yesterday at his news conference, that for lawmakers looking to help consumers at the pump, the fastest way to provide some relief would be passing a tax cut -- Donna.

KELLEY: Talking about tax cuts, Kelly, in addition to the hybrid cars that you were mentioning, I don't know if you have had chance to see how detailed this might be, or are there any other tax breaks that they are talking about for conservation?

WALLACE: We are getting -- we are told that the president's report will include much more when it comes to conservation and energy efficiency. So likely to see -- again, we don't have this specific yet, but likely to see other kinds of incentives to encourage businesses to invest in other types of more fuel-efficient technology, to encourage more research and development on fuel-efficient technology.

And also, when it comes to consumers, not clear exactly what size of a tax credit the administration is looking for. Apparently, it won't propose a specific number, but the auto makers definitely believe that to get consumers to buy these more fuel-efficient cars -- they are more expensive, and the only way you are going to get the people to actually go buy them is if you provide some incentives, so that the price is not too overwhelming for those cars.

KELLEY: Kelly, thank you. Kelly Wallace at the White House.

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