WASHINGTON, Jan 27: US President George W. Bush on Saturday defended his newly announced plan to increase US energy security and independence, saying the plan would protect the country from enemy governments and terrorists.

In his weekly radio address, Bush reiterated the key themes of the new plan he announced on Tuesday, including steps to double the nation's strategic oil reserve and boost the supply and consumption of renewable fuels such as ethanol.

“Our nation's dependence on oil leaves us vulnerable to hostile regimes and terrorists who can hurt our economy by disrupting our oil supply,” he said Saturday.

“We must diversify our nation's energy supply, and the way forward is through technology.

“By expanding our use of renewable and alternative fuels like ethanol, we can become less dependent on oil and confront the serious challenge of climate change.”

Bush said he wants Congress to pass legislation setting mandatory fuel requirements that would result in quintupling the current consumption of renewable and alternative fuels to 35 billion gallons (133bn litres) by 2017.

He also said fuel economy standards for cars need to be tightened to reduce gasoline consumption.

“By taking these steps, we can help achieve a great goal: reducing the use of gasoline in the United States by 20 per cent in the next 10 years, and cutting our total imports by the equivalent of three-quarters of all the oil we now import from the Middle East,” Bush said.—AFP