Today, with the support of California
Senators Diane Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, the U.S. Senate passed a bipartisan
energy bill that, if enacted, represents the first time in more than thirty
years that Congress has acted to increase fuel economy standards for vehicles.
“After more than thirty
years, Congress is finally poised to reduce our dangerous oil addiction,” said Environment
California Clean Energy Advocate Bernadette Del Chiaro. “House 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, which will 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.
The threat of a veto by
President Bush and a filibuster by Senate Republicans led Senate leaders to
drop other important clean energy policies from the energy bill including tax
incentives for renewable energy investments and a national renewable
electricity standard. An energy bill with a tax incentives and 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% of their electricity from renewable
energy such as wind, solar, or biomass, or through energy efficiency savings by
2020. A package of tax credits would have shifted billions of dollars from the
oil industry to clean, renewable energy sources including wind, solar and geothermal
technologies, including the investment tax credit for homeowners and businesses
investing in solar power critically needed for California to achieve its million solar roofs goal.
“Increasing our use of clean
renewable energy is essential for a clean energy future,” said Del Chiaro. “We
are disappointed that tax credits for renewable energy and a renewable
electricity standard were not passed today and we will continue to press
Congress to pass these important policies in 2008.”
The Senate 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.
While the bill’s fuel economy
increase is identical to that called for in the President’s 2007 State of the
Union address, the White House has threatened to veto the bill unless states
and the EPA are preempted from regulating global warming pollution from cars.
The bill does not include such a provision.
“The President called for an
increase in CAFE in his 2007 State of the Union address and Congress is going
to deliver it to him while protecting the state’s ability to adopt state
standards for global warming pollution,” said Del Chiaro. “The White House
should stop trying to trample on states’ rights and sign this bill to deliver
much-needed oil savings for America.”
