LONDON (AFX) - President George Bush said he will speed up his alternative energy push during the remainder of his term with new spending focused on easing bottlenecks that are slowing the spread of ethanol in the market.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Bush said he is seeking ways to overcome difficulties in transporting the fuel, and to increase the number of stations selling it.
'I envision more money being spent to accelerate' availability of ethanol and other alternative fuels, he said.
The president went on to discuss a range of other issues.
On Iran, Bush said he is willing to let negotiations on Tehran's nuclear ambitions run awhile longer before trying to ratchet up pressure to curb such programs.
'We ought to give the Europeans time to see whether or not the Iranians will make the proper choice about verifiably suspending (uranium enrichment),' he said. But he added that the ultimate deadline for a sanctions push would come 'sooner rather than later, to make sure that these discussions are not their attempt to stall their way into us losing our interest in the subject.'
On the problems of auto giants General Motors Corp and Ford Motor Co, Bush said he is interested in talking with their top executives after the November elections, but he appeared to hold out little hope that the federal government would take the lead in relieving the companies of their huge legacy costs for retired workers.
'If their concerns are rising health-care costs, I fully understand,' he said. But 'if their concerns are, 'We made some agreements in the past that we're not sure we can live with,' I will be most interested in hearing what the prescription would be.' newsdesk@afxnews.com jlw COPYRIGHT Copyright AFX News Limited 2005. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of AFX News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AFX News. AFX News and AFX Financial News Logo are registered trademarks of AFX News Limited
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