CLAYCOMO, Mo. — President Bush peeked under the hoods of hybrid cars and toured two automobile assembly lines Tuesday to urge Americans to buy more alternative fuel vehicles as part of his initiative to reduce the use of gasoline.

"Americans are just getting used to this kind of ... technological breakthroughs, something you're used to," Bush told automobile workers at the Ford assembly plant near Kansas City. "You make these cars all day long, but I don't think our citizens fully understand what is happening in America. And that's why I've come to highlight the technological changes that we're seeing."

Seeking to reinvigorate his domestic programs in his final two years as president, Bush has announced a program to curb growth in auto emissions by boosting the use of alternative fuels and improving fuel efficiency. Speaking in front of electric hybrid and alternative fuel vehicles, Bush praised Ford and General Motors for trying to make trucks and SUVs more energy-efficient.

"Texans like to use pickup trucks, as you well know. And it makes sense to have these technologies fit in the kind of trucks that people like to drive, or the kind of cars that people demand," Bush said.

Critics say Bush's proposal is too little, too late — it reins in growth in emissions but does not reduce them.

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"If the president had a more responsible energy policy, there would be a lot more than one U.S. hybrid car plant for him to visit," said Dan Becker, director of the Sierra Club's global warming program. "We'd cut global warming pollution, oil addiction and save consumers money at the pump."

His proposals fall far short of existing California policy, for instance. Bush's plan "at best holds U.S. passenger vehicle heat-trapping emissions constant at today's levels by 2017. At worst, it allows an 18 percent increase in carbon dioxide emissions, equivalent to the pollution of an additional 42 million cars," said Eben Burnham-Snyder of the Natural Resources Defense Council. "In contrast, California's plan will reduce vehicle carbon dioxide emissions by 16 percent compared to today's levels by 2020."

Indeed, global warming still takes a backseat in the president's rhetoric to "oil dependency" — the idea that the United States is too dependent on oil imported from volatile regions of the world.

"I want to highlight an important initiative for the country, and that is to promote technologies so we are less reliant upon foreign sources of oil," Bush told the Ford workers. "And the best way to become less reliant on foreign sources of oil is to manufacture automobiles that will use either less gasoline or different kinds of fuels."

The Ford plant in Claycomo assembles two types of hybrid SUV passenger vehicles: the Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner. Both models can run on electric power alone, gasoline alone or a combination.

Bush also toured a General Motors assembly plant nearby in Kansas City, Kan., that is working on a hybrid Saturn Aura sedan, expected to be available later this year.

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers estimates that there are 10.5 million alternative fuel vehicles on U.S. roads and reported that sales exceeded expectations last year.