Climate advocates ‘underwhelmed’ by president’s vision.

On the night of 23 January, during his annual state of the union speech to the US Congress and the nation, President George W. Bush called for a 20 percent drop in petrol use by 2017. Bush also proposed raising fuel-efficiency standards for cars, and called for more research into alternative fuels. And he got a standing ovation when he referred to “the serious challenge of global climate change.”

Yet climate experts were left wondering whether the president’s proposals would make any difference. Vicki Arroyo, director of policy analysis at the Pew Center on Global Climate Change in Arlington, Virginia, called the address “underwhelming”. Bush’s speech, she said, was “very light on actual commitments”.

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