Bush calls for cleaner federal vehicles

In Delaware, Bush toured a research center at DuPont, the international chemical company. Scientists there are working to develop cellulosic ethanol, a fuel brewed from various forms of vegetative growth -- woodchips, weed-like switch grass and corn stalks, for example, rather than the corn kernels that are now used to produce ethanol.

Bush said he was directing the government to purchase plug-in hybrid vehicles, if they become commercially available, and to purchase other hybrid and flexible-fuel vehicles that can use ethanol.

Bush also urged pressing ahead with the revitalization of the nation's nuclear power industry, and with offshore drilling for deep pockets of gas, which he said could be conducted in an "environmentally friendly way." Nuclear energy, he said, is "going to be good for your children. It's going to make us less dependent on natural gas from overseas, and it's going to make us better stewards of the environment."

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james.gerstenzang@latimes.com

janet.wilson@latimes.com

Gerstenzang reported from Wilmington and Wilson from Los Angeles.