President Bush Praises Governor Perdue's Leadership Addressing Potential Fuel Shortages

ATLANTA – President Bush today praised the leadership of Governor Sonny Perdue during a press conference at the U.S. Department of Energy regarding the status of the nation's energy supply.

“My point is, is that the storm affected the ability to get gasoline to markets.  I know the governors of Florida and Georgia have done some creative things to try to anticipate what will be a temporary problem.  Governor Perdue of Georgia I thought did a – showed some leadership by saying we've got to – anticipating a problem, here's what we need to do to correct it,” said President Bush.

On Friday, Governor Perdue announced several immediate fuel conservation initiatives in anticipation of Hurricane Rita and the potential for temporary disruption of fuel supply in Georgia .  The Governor's plan included early “snow days” for public schools today and tomorrow, elimination of non-essential state travel, and alternative work schedules and telecommuting.  Governor Perdue also encouraged private sector citizens to carpool.