NEW MEXICO, Aug 8: US President George W. Bush on Monday signed a sweeping energy bill he said would strengthen the US economy and eventually help wean the US from foreign sources of oil. The US Congress passed the legislation just last month, about four years after the Bush administration proposed it, drawing an outcry from environmental groups who said it favoured oil companies at the expense of conservation.

“The bill makes an unprecedented commitment to energy conservation and efficiency — unprecedented commitment,” said Bush, who paid a symbolic visit to a solar panel manufacturing plant during his trip here.

The president also noted that the legislation aimed to encourage the development of nuclear energy. “We will start building nuclear plants again by the end of this decade,” the president vowed.

“We have not had a national energy policy, and as a result, our consumers are paying more for the price of their gasoline. Electricity bills are going up. We had a massive blackout two summers ago that cost this country billions of dollars and disrupted millions of lives,” said Bush.—AFP