In his quest for a defining legacy beyond the Iraq war, a chastened President George W. Bush in his State of the Union address will put energy security – reducing US dependence on foreign oil – at the heart of his political agenda for his final two years.

It is not a new issue for the former oilman. He trumpeted it in 2001, cemented by an energy strategy he summed up as: “We darn sure have to do a better job of finding more supply. We can’t conserve our way to energy independence.”