Members, you and I will work together in the months ahead on… a cleaner environment (applause)… - G.W. Bush, State of the Union, 2002

Our third goal is to promote energy independence for our country, while dramatically improving the environment. (Applause.) I have sent you a comprehensive energy plan to promote energy efficiency and conservation, to develop cleaner technology, and to produce more energy at home. (Applause.) I have sent you Clear Skies legislation… - G.W. Bush, State of the Union, 2003

America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world. The best way to break this addiction is through technology. Since 2001, we have spent nearly $10 billion to develop cleaner, cheaper, and more reliable alternative energy sources — and we are on the threshold of incredible advances. [...]

So tonight, I announce the Advanced Energy Initiative — a 22-percent increase in clean-energy research — at the Department of Energy, to push for breakthroughs in two vital areas. To change how we power our homes and offices, we will invest more in zero-emission coal-fired plants, revolutionary solar and wind technologies, and clean, safe nuclear energy. (Applause.) - G.W. Bush, State of the Union, 2006

And then there was 2007:

It is in our vital interest to diversify America’s energy supply — and the way forward is through technology. We must continue changing the way America generates electric power — by even greater use of clean coal technology … solar and wind energy … and clean, safe nuclear power. We need to press on with battery research for plug-in and hybrid vehicles, and expand the use of clean diesel vehicles and biodiesel fuel. We must continue investing in new methods of producing ethanol — using everything from wood chips, to grasses, to agricultural wastes.

The old "nucular" "nuclear" and "clean coal" workhorses are still in the mix, but once again Bush mentioned, on national television, "solar" and "wind" power and even bioethanol (though not by that name). He also had something wholly new in store for his audience:

These technologies will help us become better stewards of the environment — and they will help us to confront the serious challenge of global climate change.

This was Bush's seventh State of the Union Address, and the very first time he's spoken specifically of global warming or climate change. The speech was, from an environmental perspective, the most forward-thinking of Bush's political career by a wide margin. He even offered specific policy proposals such as:

Tonight, I ask Congress to join me in pursuing a great goal. Let us build on the work we have done and reduce gasoline usage in the United States by 20 percent in the next 10 years [...]

To reach this goal, we must increase the supply of alternative fuels, by setting a mandatory Fuels Standard to require 35 billion gallons of renewable and alternative fuels in 2017 — this is nearly 5 times the current target. At the same time, we need to reform and modernize fuel economy standards for cars the way we did for light trucks — and conserve up to 8.5 billion more gallons of gasoline by 2017.

An increase in CAFE standards, too? Fellow ecophiles, I cannot say for sure, but it's possible that we have entered the Matrix. And yet, much of Bush's energy rhetoric seems vaguely familiar, which freshman Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va) pointed out in the official Democratic response:

Further, this is the seventh time the President has mentioned energy independence in his State of the Union message, but for the first time this exchange is taking place in a Congress led by the Democratic Party. We are looking for affirmative solutions that will strengthen our nation by freeing us from our dependence on foreign oil, and spurring a wave of entrepreneurial growth in the form of alternate energy programs. We look forward to working with the president and his party to bring about these changes.

Given Bush's record of follow-through on past green-ish SOTU policy proposals, one could be forgiven for being entirely skeptical this time around. We have been here before, and we have been disappointed in the days, weeks, and months that followed. Think Progress has even compiled a video of unfulfilled environmental promises from previous SOTUs.

In the midst of the genuinely clean and renewable energy sources that Bush mentioned, we might also be concerned about presence of "clean coal" and "nuclear energy" in the speech along with the statement:

So as we continue to diversify our fuel supply, we must also step up domestic oil production in environmentally sensitive ways.

Not to worry, oil companies: you've still got a friend. Make yourselves at home in our national parks, wildlife refuges, on our shores, and in our waters. Bush, not surprisingly, did not offer his blessing to the bill that passed the House last week that repeals tax breaks and subsidies for oil companies and diverts the money to alternative and renewable fuel research and development.

But maybe we skeptics are not giving the president enough credit. Maybe he'd like future historians writing about his legacy to include paragraphs on issues other than Iraq, the PATRIOT Act, wiretaps, unprecedented executive secrecy, Katrina and New Orleans (conspicuously missing from the speech tonight), dismal approval numbers, Kyoto withdrawal, and special prosecutors. Again from an environmental perspective, it was a B+ speech near the end of a D- presidency from a politician who never again will be asking for our votes and from a president that for the first time must face an opposition Congress. Perhaps President George W. Bush is finally ready (and/or forced) to take the green road less traveled.

It could make all the difference.