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WASHINGTON (AP) - Among the boldest pronouncements in President Bush's State of the Union address was his goal to replace three-fourths of the country's oil imports from the Middle East over the next two decades by developing alternative fuels.
Senior administration officials acknowledged Wednesday that even if the president's push for substitutes for gasoline and diesel is successful, the reliance on Persian Gulf oil by world markets — including the U.S. market — is unlikely to change.
Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman and Allan Hubbard, assistant to the president for economic policy, struggled Wednesday in an attempt to explain what Bush had meant by "replacing" Middle East oil.
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