Renzi Applauds President Bush's Advanced Energy Initiative

Says Time is Now for Solar, Renewable and Alternative Fuels WASHINGTON D.C. - Congressman Rick Renzi (AZ-1) applauded the alternative energy initiatives President Bush outlined in his State of the Union address last night. Congressman Renzi is a member of the House Renewable Energy Caucus and is a co-sponsor of legislation in the House (HR 4357) that will require a ten percent blend of renewable fuels in all gasoline sold in the United States by 2010. "The President's bold energy initiative focusing on renewable and alternative is long past due," said Congressman Renzi. "We must set achievable energy goals for our nation that lessen our dependence on oil and unstable foreign governments. Renewable fuels and especially solar power in Arizona can both help deliver clean, affordable energy to communities in rural Arizona." Congressman Renzi said he was pleased to see the President highlight bio-fuel and bio-diesel as a possible alternative automobile fuel. Renzi noted the progress that Brazil has shown with bio-diesel and sugarcane as a model for the United States to use. "The technology to produce enough bio-fuels and bio-diesel to fuel a nation is no longer just wishful thinking, Brazil has done it and America can too," Congressman Renzi said. "Only a short time ago, Brazil was crippled by its overwhelming reliance on foreign oil, but now it is producing more than fifty percent of its energy needs from bio-diesel grown from sugar cane. America can use Brazil's model to increase the use of alternative fuels, new technologies and better fuel efficiencies."