http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=11521 Planet Ark US lawmaker seeks to raise fuel standard to 40 mpg
USA: July 12, 2001 WASHINGTON - A House subcommittee Thursday will consider adding language to a energy efficiency and conservation bill that would significantly boost the fuel mileage of passenger cars, sport utility vehicles and other light trucks. Democratic Rep. Edward Markey of Massachusetts will ask lawmakers on the House energy and air quality subcommittee to adopt an amendment to the pending bill to raise the fuel standard of US vehicles to 40 miles per gallon. If ultimately enacted into the law, the stronger standard would save consumers $10 billion in fuel costs a year and shave US petroleum demand by 3 million barrels per day, according to a coalition of environmental groups who support Markey's amendment. The US market consumes about 20 million barrels of petroleum a day. The current Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards that were approved by Congress in 1975 after the Arab oil embargo require passenger cars to get an average 27.5 miles per gallon and light trucks 20.7 miles. Light trucks were allowed to have lower mileage when the CAFE standards were adopted because at the time they were used mostly by farmers and businesses. But today the category includes SUVs, pickups and minivans that account for about half the vehicles sold in the United States. The subcommittee's chairman, Republican Rep. Joe Barton of Texas, has said he expects the final version of the energy bill to have some kind of "CAFE component," although he has not elaborated on a specific higher fuel standard. Republican Rep. Billy Tauzin of Louisiana, who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee, also said his panel would likely consider the legislation with the higher fuel standard. Lawmakers on the subcommittee spent an hour late Wednesday afternoon debating amendments to the bill, most of which related to nuclear power. Thursday morning, subcommittee members will begin what is expected to be a much longer and contentious debate on more than a dozen amendments relating to gasoline mixture specifications and energy conservation issues, which will include Markey's higher fuel standard amendment. The Bush administration is waiting for a CAFE study from the National Academy of Sciences to be released at the end of this month before deciding whether to seek a change in the fuel standards. Story by Tom Doggett REUTERS NEWS SERVICE http://enn.com/news/wire-stories/2001/07/07112001/ap_gasstandards_44270.asp - 7/11/2001 - ENN.com SUVs may face tougher gas standards Wednesday, July 11, 2001 By Associated Press WASHINGTON - Tougher mileage requirements for sport utility vehicles will probably emerge in an energy package expected to be ready for a House vote later this month, Republican lawmakers said Tuesday. Lawmakers were struggling to find a bipartisan compromise that would increase fuel economy requirements for motor vehicles for the first time in a quarter-century. At least three committees began crafting details. Several Republicans said an increase in the federal corporate fuel economy standard, or CAFE, for SUVs and vans was likely. But they emphasized that disagreements remain on how much of an increase is needed; whether it should apply to automobiles as well as SUVs, vans, and small trucks; and what the timetable should be for phasing in new requirements. Energy legislation before the House Energy and Commerce Committee introduced Tuesday contains no fuel economy provision. But Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-La., the committee chairman, said discussions were under way to work out a compromise on a fuel economy proposal that likely will be added to the bill. CAFE standards, which mandate fuel economy requirements for vehicle fleets, have not been increased since their introduction in 1975. During the last six years, Republican majorities in both the House and Senate have barred the Transportation Department from even studying CAFE changes. That prohibition was abandoned earlier this year amid growing pressure to come up with more energy-conservation measures along with incentives to spur energy production. President Bush's energy blueprint calls for considering CAFE increases, but not before a National Academy of Sciences report is issued, probably later this month, on the impact of the standard on energy savings, safety, and auto-industry competition. Under a 1975 law spurred by energy shortages in the early 1970s, passengers cars are required to meet a fleet average of at least 27.5 miles per gallon. Light trucks - a category that includes SUVs, vans, and pickups - have to meet a lower 20.7 mpg fleet average. With the widespread popularity of SUVs and vans in recent years, many environmentalists have argued that the truck standard should be increased, eliminating the so-called truck loophole in the 1975 law. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, chairman of a panel crafting the energy package, said there's a good chance the loophole will be at least partially closed and that the automobile standard might be increased as well. Other GOP sources familiar with the discussions said that more likely the truck standard will be increased three or four miles per gallon and the auto standard left alone. The momentum for some CAFE increase has been growing. "If I were a betting man I would bet that CAFE will be increased this year - the question is how much," said Rep. Sherwood Boehlert, R-N.Y., chairman of the House Science Committee. Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., criticized GOP lawmakers for not including a CAFE provision in the energy bill that Tauzin's committee will begin to consider on Wednesday. "Substantial increases in CAFE standards would be the single most effective action we could take to control gas prices, avoid drilling in sensitive wilderness areas, and enhance energy security," said Waxman. Automakers have fought attempts to increase the standards. They say such government edicts limit consumer choice and force manufacturers to build smaller cars that customers don't want. Supporters of increased fuel economy argue that new technologies are available to increase fuel efficiency without decreasing the size of vehicles. Copyright 2001, Associated Press Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send "unsubscribe" messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
