President Bush introduced proposals to cut US gasoline consumption by twenty percent over ten years and ease the country’s dependance on foreign oil. The president steered clear of calling for mandatory caps on U.S. carbon dioxide emissions and rejected calls for a commitment to stricter fuel economy rules. Award-winning New York Times science reporter Andrew Revkin analyses President Bush’s proposals. [includes rush transcript]

In his State of the Union address, President Bush introduced proposals to cut US gasoline consumption by twenty percent over ten years and ease the country’s dependance on foreign oil. The president steered clear of calling for mandatory caps on U.S. carbon dioxide emissions and rejected calls for a commitment to stricter fuel economy rules. Instead, Bush said the bulk of the reductions in gas consumption are to come from increased use of alternative fuels.

Andrew Revkin is an award-winning science reporter with the New York Times. He is the author of several books, including “Global Warming: Understanding the Forecast” and “The North Pole Was Here.” He joins us on the line from upstate New York.

• Andrew Revkin. Prize winning science reporter with the New York Times. He is the author of two books “Global Warming: Understanding the Forecast” and “Burning Season: The Murder of Chico Mendes and the Fight for the Amazon Rain Forest.” His new book is “The North Pole Was Here.”