Bush meets automakers to tout flex fuel cars

President Bush has met again with the big three US auto makers to check out their alternative fuel vehicles.
The heads of General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG showed off their wares on the White House lawn on Monday. The lineup included a General Motors  model that can run on ethanol, a plug-in Ford, and a DaimlerChrysler Jeep filled with a biodiesel blend.

Bush praised the American automakers for building more flex-fuel cars saying they now "recognize the reality" of the need to reduce dependence on foreign oil.

"I found it very interesting that by 2012, 50% of the automobiles in America will be Flex vehicles," he said. (What he meant to say was that 50% of all new car sales will be flex-fuel, meaning they can run on gasoline and ethanol. It will take many more years at that pace before half the cars on the road are flex-fuel.)

Ethanol is now blended with 46% of the nation's fuel. However, only about 1,100 of the nation's 170,000 fueling stations offer the higher E-85 blend.

Bush spent Tuesday taking a look at alternative fuel vehicles used by the U.S. Postal Service, FedEx, UPS, and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.

The U.S. Postal Service claims to have the largest alternative fuel vehicle fleet in the world. Almost 13 percent of the 289,000 vehicle fleet are alternative fuel vehicles such as hybrids, biodiesel, compressed natural gas, and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.”

Click here for a transcript of Bush's brief statement on Monday, and click here for a link to information about the US Postal Service's fleet.

- David Adams