In his state-of-the-Union speech President George Bush admitted that the USA had an addiction to oil. As with any addiction, the first challenge in overcoming the dependency is for the addict to admit he has a problem. The admission came as Americans faced historically high petrol prices at the pumps (in excess of $3 per gallon) and US oil imports rose to two thirds of total demand. President Bush used the occasion to highlight the need for the US to reduce its dependence on oil imports, particularly from the unstable Middle East, and extolled the virtues of domestically produced biomass-based ethanol as a substitute to petrol.