Pity the poor speculator scrambling to invest in switchgrass futures in the wake of President George W. Bush's State of the Union address. They do not exist - yet. But you can bet some bright commodity broker is even now drawing up contracts for physical delivery in 2025. That is the date the president set to replace 75 per cent of Middle East oil imports.

Switchgrass is the botanical marvel Mr Bush has dragged from obscurity to propose as a source of bioethanol powering a US free from extortion by oil sheikhs and threats from mullahs. Has the Kyoto protocol refusenik and doubter of global warming suddenly gone a funny shade of green? Perhaps, but in a distinctively Republican way.