http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/20716/story.htm
Lieberman energy plan would slash US oil imports USA: May 8, 2003 WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Joseph Lieberman will unveil yesterday his national energy plan that aims to slash within a decade U.S. oil imports by almost two-thirds and in 20 years eliminate the need for foreign oil completely. Under his plan, Lieberman will call for the United States to reduce its dependence on foreign oil by boosting mileage requirements for passenger cars, minivans and gas-guzzling SUVs, according to a briefing on the plan given to Reuters. Lieberman believes his plan would make the United States stronger globally by relying less on foreign oil, and become stronger domestically because it eliminates risks to the U.S. economy and would create jobs from new energy-saving technology. "I'm not going to let foreign countries blow out our families' budgets by running up your heating bills and what you pay at the pump," Lieberman said in excerpts of his speech to be delivered to the Resources for the Future think tank in Washington. The United States uses about 20 million barrels of oil a day, with half that amount imported. Gasoline demand takes 40 percent of all oil supplies. One barrel holds 42 gallons. In his speech, Lieberman will not call for specific increases in the federal mileage fuel standards, but will leave it up to Transportation Department to determine how much the fuel economy must be raised to save 2 million barrels of oil a day by 2015. Automakers that produce super-efficient vehicles that exceed the average fuel economy by 20 percent or more will receive valuable pollution credits, which will make it easier to meet expected new limits on greenhouse gas emissions. "Under my plan, if one company decides to build less-efficient cars, it will be able to trade with a more efficient automaker so that the entire industry reaches our overall goal," Lieberman said. To encourage consumers to buy alternative-fuel vehicles, Lieberman wants to provide a tax credit of at least $1,000 per vehicle, increasing up to $5,000 depending on the amount of oil conserved by the vehicle. Other parts of the Lieberman energy plan would: * Require utilities to generate more of their electricity from renewable resources like wind and solar energy. * Keep the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska closed to oil drilling, but encourage drilling in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico. * Provide $6.5 billion in research funds to develop hydrogen-powered cars, with 100,000 of the vehicles on the road by 2010 and 2.5 million by 2020. * Make a $15 billion investment in clean coal technology. Story by Tom Doggett REUTERS NEWS SERVICE ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Rent DVDs from home. Over 14,500 titles. Free Shipping & No Late Fees. Try Netflix for FREE! http://us.click.yahoo.com/BVVfoB/hP.FAA/uetFAA/9bTolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Biofuels at Journey to Forever http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuel at WebConX http://webconx.green-trust.org/2000/biofuel/biofuel.htm List messages are archived at the Info-Archive at NNYTech: http://archive.nnytech.net/ To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
