Bush Asks U.S. To Drive Less, Conserve Gas

Bush asks U.S. to drive less, conserve gas

http://www.sciencedaily.com/upi/?fee...nservation.xml

WASHINGTON, Sept. 27 (UPI) -- U.S. President George Bush is asking the country to drive less and save gas in the wake of two hurricanes that hurt Gulf coast production.

Speaking in Washington on the eve of a visit to Texas and Louisiana Tuesday, Bush also said he had issued a directive for all federal agencies to cut their own energy use and to encourage employees to use public transportation, The New York Times reported.

While Hurricane Rita caused much less damage to the oil industry last weekend than feared, coming on the heels of Hurricane Katrina on Aug. 29 disrupted oil and gas production enough to ensure that winter will see sharply higher energy costs.

The Gulf of Mexico produces about 7 percent of the oil used in the United States and provides 16 percent of the nation's natural gas.

As of Monday, half of the 16 refineries that were forced to shut by Hurricane Rita have said they plan to restart production soon, the newspaper said.

Copyright 2005 by United Press International. All Rights Reserved.

i think people are already doing this because of the prices. this makes it seem like bush cares about us when really he's spouting off shit we already knew.