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Last night, the Senate overwhelmingly passed an Energy Bill that will significantly strengthen fuel economy standards for vehicles for the first time in more than a generation.
This historic victory was not a complete one, however. The Senate removed the renewable electricity standard and clean energy tax incentives from the bill—both of which would have increased our nation's use of clean, renewable energy. The House of Representatives is expected to pass this version of the bill next week, and move it to the president’s desk where he has already said he will sign it into law.
This bill represents years of work and is a significant step forward. The bill will boost Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards to a fleetwide average of at least 35 miles per gallon by 2020—saving 1.1 million barrels of oil per day in 2020 (about half of what the United States currently imports from the Persian Gulf). This will significantly reduce America's oil consumption, save consumers billions at the gas pump each year, and is a meaningful step forward as we seek to reduce our nation’s global warming pollution.
UCS and our supporters have been a leading voice on this critical legislation—we should all be proud of what we have accomplished. Since we began our “Fuel A Cooler Future” campaign almost a year ago, UCS activists have written letters, made phone calls, met with their representatives, called out corporations, and even sent personalized gas receipts to Congress. All to ensure this legislation passed.
UCS engineers backed up your actions, producing timely, rigorous analysis clearly demonstrating the consumer, economic, and environmental benefits of stronger fuel economy standards—materials Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid specifically mentioned when the Senate first passed these standards in June. Our Washington representatives, in turn, held countless meeting on Capitol Hill to explain the benefits of this legislation to House and Senate staff, and to counter the relentless, well-funded “can’t do” lobbying tactics of the automakers and their allies that had for 30 years managed to hold sway in Washington.
But we also worked hard to get the renewable electricity standard and the clean energy tax credits included in the Energy Bill, and are disappointed that the White House threatened to veto the bill if it included such provisions. By forcing the Senate to strip the renewable standard and the tax credits from the bill, the Bush administration has further delayed the development of clean, homegrown renewable energy that will save consumers money and create jobs. We remain fully committed to passing a national renewable electricity standard as soon as possible.
Internationally, the increase of fuel economy standards for American vehicles has been seen as a sign that the United States is finally accepting responsibility for reducing its own global warming pollution. UCS staff attending a critical global meeting on climate change this week in Indonesia have held up this congressional action as indication that the Bush administration represents the past, not the future, on U.S. climate change and energy policy.
While there is additional work to do on fuel economy, renewables, and other clean energy technologies, today is a day we should all take a moment to enjoy and to recognize what it is that we accomplished together: history.
Sincerely,
Kathleen Rest, PhD, MPA
Executive Director
This historic victory was not a complete one, however. The Senate removed the renewable electricity standard and clean energy tax incentives from the bill—both of which would have increased our nation's use of clean, renewable energy. The House of Representatives is expected to pass this version of the bill next week, and move it to the president’s desk where he has already said he will sign it into law.
This bill represents years of work and is a significant step forward. The bill will boost Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards to a fleetwide average of at least 35 miles per gallon by 2020—saving 1.1 million barrels of oil per day in 2020 (about half of what the United States currently imports from the Persian Gulf). This will significantly reduce America's oil consumption, save consumers billions at the gas pump each year, and is a meaningful step forward as we seek to reduce our nation’s global warming pollution.
UCS and our supporters have been a leading voice on this critical legislation—we should all be proud of what we have accomplished. Since we began our “Fuel A Cooler Future” campaign almost a year ago, UCS activists have written letters, made phone calls, met with their representatives, called out corporations, and even sent personalized gas receipts to Congress. All to ensure this legislation passed.
UCS engineers backed up your actions, producing timely, rigorous analysis clearly demonstrating the consumer, economic, and environmental benefits of stronger fuel economy standards—materials Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid specifically mentioned when the Senate first passed these standards in June. Our Washington representatives, in turn, held countless meeting on Capitol Hill to explain the benefits of this legislation to House and Senate staff, and to counter the relentless, well-funded “can’t do” lobbying tactics of the automakers and their allies that had for 30 years managed to hold sway in Washington.
But we also worked hard to get the renewable electricity standard and the clean energy tax credits included in the Energy Bill, and are disappointed that the White House threatened to veto the bill if it included such provisions. By forcing the Senate to strip the renewable standard and the tax credits from the bill, the Bush administration has further delayed the development of clean, homegrown renewable energy that will save consumers money and create jobs. We remain fully committed to passing a national renewable electricity standard as soon as possible.
Internationally, the increase of fuel economy standards for American vehicles has been seen as a sign that the United States is finally accepting responsibility for reducing its own global warming pollution. UCS staff attending a critical global meeting on climate change this week in Indonesia have held up this congressional action as indication that the Bush administration represents the past, not the future, on U.S. climate change and energy policy.
While there is additional work to do on fuel economy, renewables, and other clean energy technologies, today is a day we should all take a moment to enjoy and to recognize what it is that we accomplished together: history.
Sincerely,
Kathleen Rest, PhD, MPA
Executive Director
Jessica
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