US President George W. Bush on Monday signed a massive energy bill that provides billions of dollars in tax subsidies to US energy companies.

"This bill is not going to solve our energy challenges overnight," Bush said before signing the bill in Albuquerque, New Mexico. "It's going to take years of focused efforts to alleviate those problems."

"This economy is moving, and what this energy bill does is that it recognizes that we need more affordable and reliability sources of energy," he said. "This bill launches an energy strategy for the 21st century and I've really been looking forward to signing it."

Bush traveled to New Mexico from his ranch in Crawford, Texas, to sign the 1,724-page energy bill, which passed the US House of Representatives of the Senate last month.

The bill would provide 14.5 billion dollars in energy tax breaks over 10 years, much of it to traditional energy companies. Nearly 9 billion dollars is earmarked for oil and gas, electricity and coal companies. Less than 5 billion dollars will be spent on energy efficiency and renewable energy programs.

Source: Xinhua