Bush backs move away from oil

? As the U.S. Gulf Coast faces a threat from a massive oil spill, former President George W. Bush told the American Wind Energy Association, “It’s in our economic interests that we diversify away from oil,” at a conference Tuesday.

“It’s in our environmental interest,” the one-time Midland, Texas, oilman added. “And, finally, it’s in our national security interest.”

Bush, speaking at the Dallas Convention Center, said he believes that his grandchildren “will be driving electric cars, powered primarily by renewable sources of energy.”

“I fully believe plug-in hybrids will be a transition to electric cars,” he said. Hybrids are combination gasoline-electric vehicles. Plug-in hybrids can be recharged using standard electric outlets.

Oil and natural gas will remain vital sources of energy as the nation transitions to a new energy era, Bush said.