Bush will push green fuel

State of the Union will include an ethanol plug. Will it matter?

NEW YORK (FORTUNE) – Among those paying very close attention to the president’s State of the Union address tonight will be folks from every sector of the energy industry, eager to hear what the petroleum president has to say about alternative energy.

Yes, you read that right. President Bush — former oil man, son of an oil man, coached by the former chief executive of Halliburton

“I agree with Americans who understand being hooked on foreign oil is an economic problem and a national security problem,” Bush said in a recent interview with CBS, according to the Associated Press. That’s really an astounding statement. Coming from Jimmy Carter or Bill Clinton, it would be ho hum. But coming from George W. Bush it actually means something.

This is the Nixon going to China of renewable fuels. Of course, if the price of a barrel of oil was closer to $40 instead of $70, it’s unlikely President Bush would even be talking about alternative energy. But oil isn’t at $40, and Bush is talking about ways to cut down our use of petroleum, 60 percent of which we import.

Fortune