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Goal: Increase ethanol consumption fivefold

Target: Maybe someday 2017
Promised in: January 2007
Progress: This was superseded by last year's energy law, signed in December, which slows the pace somewhat. With consumption then at 6.5 billion gallons a year, the law mandates the use of 9 billion gallons of renewable motor fuel in 2008, and 24 billion gallons by 2017. It also requires a gradual shift away from corn as a raw material for ethanol.

But now that food prices are soaring, members of Congress are having doubts. A bipartisan group has asked the administration to halve the 9-billion-gallon requirement for this year, although high prices in the marketplace have spurred production.

Goal: Reduce gasoline consumption by 20 percent

Target: Still in progress 2017
Promised in: January 2007
Progress: Gasoline consumption, which had continued to rise through September 2007, leveled off and then began to fall. Consumption was down 2 percent for June. If this keeps up, the president's goal is easily within reach--although not because of any government policies.

Goal: Achieve fuel-economy standard of 35 miles per gallon

Target: Still in progress 2020
Promised in: December 2007
Progress: With the steep decline in sales of SUV's and pickups, the country may be on the way to meeting Bush's goal much sooner than he expected.

Goal: Produce practical and effective hydrogen fuel cars

Target: Maybe someday 2020
Promised in: January 2003
Progress: "Hydrogen--we're doing a lot of research on your behalf to have hydrogen-powered automobiles, which means you're running on hydrogen, the waste product of which is water." That was Bush on May 2. The president's Hydrogen Fuel Initiative, launched in 2003, has a budget this year of $284 million. The Energy Department has automakers and energy companies working together on models of hydrogen cars, and has sponsored other research. But hydrogen-powered automobiles have run into much skepticism over whether they could ever be affordable and whether they would actually be that environmentally friendly. Some companies doing research have pulled out of the field.

Goal: Cut Middle East oil imports by three-quarters

Target: Maybe someday 2025
Promised in: February 2006
Progress: From 2006 to 2007, oil imports from the Middle East fell by 1.85 percent, from 2.21 million barrels a day to 2.17 million. The rate of decline would have to be significantly increased to meet Bush's goal, yet in the first four months of 2008, imports from the Middle East rose again to an average of about 2.5 million barrels a day.

Goal: Obtain 25 percent of total U.S. energy from renewable sources

Target: Maybe someday 2025
Promised in: December 2007
Progress: Between 2002 and 2006, the proportion of energy from renewable sources increased from 6 percent to 7 percent, so the curve will have to get much steeper now that Bush has set his objective. Most of the renewable energy currently produced in this country comes from hydroelectric dams and firewood.

The Energy Department supports research into cellulosic ethanol and has announced that it will be offering loan guarantees for projects involving renewable energy.