The Bush administration wasted no time this week in translating the president’s State of the Union energy words into actions.

“We will be proposing $1.6 billion in new funding for renewable energy, with a focus on cellulosic energy research and production as part of the administration’s 2007 Farm Bill proposals,” Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns announced Tuesday. “We’ve had great success with corn-based ethanol, now we have our sights set higher.”

The funding would support the president’s goal of reducing gasoline usage by 20 percent in the next ten years and will compliment an array of renewable energy-related efforts underway at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“It remains a priority across USDA to support the development of biofuels. We will continue to build on current programs and turn the corner on renewable energy,” said Johanns. “With biofuels coming to the forefront, American agriculture faces the greatest opportunity of a generation to lead a future in which we get our energy by the bushel and not by the barrel.”