President Bush Visits Alternative-Fuel Plant

On the morning after he asked Congress not to give up on his Iraq plan, President Bush made a quick tour of a biofuel plant in Delaware, and spoke about energy, one of his domestic priorities.

The president chose Wilmington because it is home to the Dupont Experimental Station, a research campus renowned for its research into alternative fuels. Such fuels are an important part of the energy proposal that Mr. Bush laid out in his speech to Congress Tuesday night.

The president told a crowd of Dupont employees that the type of research they're doing is helping to move beyond the bitter debates of the past over the Kyoto Accord — the international treaty requiring industries to cut carbon emissions. Mr. Bush has long opposed the agreement, insisting that there are other ways to clean the air.

"A lot of smart folks are beginning to research whether or not we can power automobiles by hydrogen. We think it's possible," Bush said. "But it's not going to be possible until I'm 75, which is probably 15 years from now."

The president returned to Washington at midday and will dine tonight with the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the uniformed services. The Pentagon brass will discuss Iraq, Afghanistan and other topics with the commander in chief, who will then make another post-State of the Union trip Thursday to Lee's Summit, Mo.