Bush has plans to end oil 'addiction'

Washington: On the heels of a politically tough year, President Bush used his State of the Union speech on Tuesday to propose weaning the United States from its "addiction" to imported oil and studying how the baby boom generation may strain federal entitlements.

The president also spent a good deal of his address on the US-led war in Iraq, efforts to fight terrorism and Iran's nuclear program.

An instant CNN/USA Today Gallup opinion poll of people who watched the speech found that more than half reacted positively.

Bush also offered a proposal aimed at ending US dependence on foreign oil as more Americans express concern about the rising cost of gasoline and home heating fuel.

"Tonight, I announce the Advanced Energy Initiative -- a 22 percent increase in clean energy research at the Department of Energy, to push for breakthroughs in two vital areas," Bush said.

"To change how we power our homes and offices, we will invest more in zero-emission, coal-fired plants; revolutionary solar and wind technologies; and clean, safe nuclear energy," he added.

He also said that, "We will increase our research in better batteries for hybrid and electric cars, and in pollution-free cars that run on hydrogen. We will also fund additional research in cutting-edge methods of producing ethanol, not just from corn but from wood chips, stalks, or switch grass."

To produce the technicians that might bolster such energy research, Bush also called for a federal education initiative "to double the federal commitment to the most critical basic research programs in the physical sciences over the next 10 years."

"This funding will support the work of America's most creative minds as they explore promising areas such as nanotechnology, supercomputing, and alternative energy sources."

That commitment would also make "permanent the research and development tax credit, to encourage bolder private-sector investment in technology," he said.

On the international front, Bush invited Americans to choose action over isolationism in his policy against tyranny and to strengthen US economic ties with other nations.

"We will choose to act confidently in pursuing the enemies of freedom -- or retreat from our duties in the hope of an easier life," Bush said. "We will choose to build our prosperity by leading the world economy -- or shut ourselves off from trade and opportunity."

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Instant poll

In interviews with 464 adult Americans who watched the speech, 48 percent said they had a very positive reaction. That's well short of the three-quarters of viewers who reacted favorably to Bush's 2002 State of the Union address.

Twenty-seven percent of Tuesday's viewers said they had a somewhat favorable reaction to the speech, while 23 percent said they felt negatively about it.

The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.

Because the poll reflects the opinions of only those who watched the State of the Union, it reflects more favorable opinions than a random sampling of the country as a whole. The audience was 43 percent Republican, 23 percent Democratic and 34 percent Independent.

War in Iraq

The president was optimistic about the war in Iraq that has claimed more than 2,200 US troops since March of 2003.

"The road to victory is the road that will take our troops home," Bush said.

"As we make progress on the ground, and Iraqi forces increasingly take the lead, we should be able to further decrease our troop levels -- but those decisions will be made by our military commanders, not by politicians in Washington, DC."

And the president also focused attention on Iraq's neighbor Iran, which US and European officials suspect is using a civilian nuclear power program to develop nuclear weapons.

Iran is "defying the world with its nuclear ambitions -- and the nations of the world must not permit the Iranian regime to gain nuclear weapons," Bush said.

According to a CNN count, the president was interrupted by applause 64 times, one of those interruptions coming from the Democratic side of the aisle when he said:

"Congress did not act last year on my proposal to save Social Security. "

The President also said that America would never retreat in the face of evil.

He said, "There is no peace or honour in retreat. By allowing radical Islam to work its will, by leaving an assaulted world to fend for itself, we would signal to all that we no longer believe in our own ideals, or even in our own courage. But our enemies and our friends can be certain we will never surrender to evil."

President Bush also demanded that the radical Islamic group - Hamas - recognise Israel and give up arms.

Bush's longest applause lasted 52 seconds, for his mention of war veteran Daniel Clay. The speech lasted about 50 minutes.