Today the House passed a bipartisan energy bill that, when signed
by the President, will represent the first time in more than thirty years that
Congress has acted to increase fuel economy.
“After three decades of stalled progress, Congress has delivered much needed
relief for our country’s dangerous oil addiction” said Environment America
Washington, D.C. office director Anna Aurilio. “Speaker Pelosi and Majority
Leader Reid along with Chairman Dingell and Chairman Markey deserve tremendous
credit for breaking the decades-long log jam on fuel economy.”
The bill will increase fuel economy standards to 35 miles per gallon fleetwide
by 2020, save 1.1 million barrels of oil per day and save consumers $22 billion
in 2020. By 2030, these standards will reduce annual global warming emissions
by 424 million metric tons a year, the equivalent of taking 77 million of
today’s cars off the road.
“This improvement in fuel economy will make real progress on
global warming,” said Aurilio. “By making our cars go farther on a gallon of
gas we can cut global warming pollution by more than the total annual emissions
of countries like Brazil, France
or Spain.”
The bill also contains beneficial reforms to Department of Energy (DOE)
authority to issue energy efficiency standards for appliance and equipment
products, and establishes new efficiency standards for products such as light
bulbs, dishwashers and clothes washers. The lighting standard alone would
reduce global warming pollution by 100 million metric tons in 2030 relative to
DOE projections. The bill also will save taxpayers money by increasing
efficiency in federal government buildings. A provision to tighten federal
building codes was dropped from the House bill.
“The President called for an increase in CAFE in his 2007
State of the Union address and Congress is going to sign, seal, and deliver it
to him,” said Aurilio. “We look forward to President Bush’s signature to give
Americans the gift of a greener Holiday.”
The threat of a veto by President Bush and a filibuster by
Senate Republicans led Senate leaders to drop a renewable electricity standard
(RES) from the bill. An energy bill with a renewable electricity standard
passed the House twice this year and garnered a majority in the Senate but fell
short of the 60 votes needed for cloture. The House RES would have required
that utilities generate 15 percent of their electricity from renewable energy
such as wind, solar, or biomass, or through energy efficiency savings by 2020.
Senate leaders were also forced to drop a package of tax credits that would
have shifted billions of dollars from the oil industry to clean, renewable
energy sources including wind, solar and geothermal technologies.
“We are thrilled that this Congress has turned a corner on
energy policy by delivering long-overdue oil savings for America.
We look forward to taking the next step toward a new energy future by passing renewable
energy standards and incentives when Congress returns in 2008,” said Aurilio.
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Environment America- a federation of state
environment groups—is the new home for U.S. PIRG’s environmental
work. www.environmentamerica.org
