The progressive Mr. Bush

In his State of the Union address on January 31st, President George W. Bush made the remarkable admission "America is addicted to oil" and declared that his country must "move beyond a petroleum-based economy." None of this is news to friends of the Earth but coming from a boon companion of the oil industry, it is downright revolutionary.

While his concerns seemed rather less about environmental damage (he never mentioned the overwhelming issue of our time, global warming) and more about reducing U.S. dependence on foreigners, nonetheless he emphasized the need for more environmentally sound technologies and committed research efforts accordingly.

If all this translates into less military adventurism and less offence against the planet, we should be thankful. Considering the Bush administration is the most regressive in living memory, we should be very thankful indeed.