Bush Signs Huge Energy Bill

President Bush today signed a sweeping energy bill that will improve automotive fuel-efficiency standards, boost biofuel production, and kill off the incandescent light bulb, the Washington Post reports. Bush said the law would reduce US dependence on foreign oil and even the likelihood of terrorist attacks. Both the White House and Congressional Democrats claimed victory in the year-long haggling process.

Under the law, cars must get 35 miles per gallon of gas by 2020, up from the current 25-mpg standard. It also mandates increased use of “advanced biofuels”—which aren’t even commercially produced yet. Edison’s still-ubiquitous bulb, meanwhile, will be replaced by more efficient models. “This bill is a clean break with the failed energy policies of the past,” one environmentalist said. (More energy stories.)