Increasingly concerned about the cost of oil and the risks associated with importing it, bipartisan
groups of House and Senate lawmakers have filed bills seeking to give biofuels and
alternative fuel vehicles a prominent place on American highways.
The lawmakers, hounded by constituents over high gasoline prices, want to reduce oil demand by lessening
the transportation sector's gasoline use -- and thus the US need for crude -- by boosting production of
fuel-efficient cars and ethanol. Ideally, they want to make vehicles, which account for nearly two-thirds
of US oil demand, reliant on the electricity grid, rather than imported fuels.
In a sign of changing times, five Republican senators who in June opposed mandating a reduction in imports
have joined five Democrats to support a bill (S. 2025) that would require the White House to reduce oil
demand 2.5-mil b/d by 2016 and 10-mil b/d by 2031. The bill would give automakers incentives to retool
their factories and require that half of their production be alternative fuel vehicles within a decade. It
would also direct the government to lower its oil demand 30% in 12 years.
Taken together, lawmakers said, this would push the transportation sector toward renewable fuels and get
more cars on the road that run on electricity, which could improve gasoline fuel economy 100-500 miles per
gallon. They pointed to Brazil's 30-year development of ethanol, which has been so successful that the
South American country soon will no longer import oil.
A similar bill was introduced in the House by Representatives Jack Kingston (Republican, Georgia), and
Eliot Engel (Democrat, New York). The House and Senate measures are based on proposals by the
Set America Free coalition, which is comprised of
security hawks and renewable energy proponents.
The senators -- Evan Bayh (Democrat, Indiana), Sam Brownback (Republican, Kansas), Norm Coleman
(Republican, Minnesota), Lindsey Graham (Republican, South Carolina), Joseph Lieberman (Democrat,
Connecticut), Richard Lugar (Republican, Indiana), Bill Nelson (Democrat, Florida), Barack Obama
(Democrat, Illinois), Ken Salazar (Democrat, Colorado), and Jeff Sessions (Republican, Alabama) -- said
they were motivated by constituents seeking action on gasoline prices but also because of the 50% growth
in world oil demand expected by 2030; vulnerabilities highlighted by the recent hurricanes; the US trade
deficit inflated largely by the purchase of foreign crude; and the economic harm and security risk of
growing oil imports.
In recent months experts warned Congress that US imports are funding Islamic
terrorists and leave the American economy at risk of a shock should a terrorist damage a major production
facility, such as one of Saudi Arabia's largest. "We're one well-orchestrated terrorist attack or
political upheaval away" from $100/bbl oil, Lieberman said. There is also concern that world oil
production will peak in the not-too-distant future.
The energy bill signed into law by
President Bush in August requires 7.5-bil gallons of ethanol in gasoline by 2012. During debate on the
bill, the Senate, encouraged by the White House, rejected a proposal from Senator Maria Cantwell
(Democrat, Washington), that would have required cuts of 1-mil b/d by 2015 and 7.6-mil b/d by 2025.
Separate proposals sought an increase in fuel economy standards.
Drawing a distinction between Cantwell's oil savings amendment and their new bill, senators said times had
changed. "That amendment at the time ... by a number of people was seen as more of a partisan bomb being
thrown...," Brownback said. "What we do here is we set objectives and we set ways and means of ... getting
this done."
The senators said seeing near $70 oil and damage to the country's energy hub required Congress to go
beyond the Energy Policy Act, something they argued could be done with off-the-shelf technologies.
"Without eliminating oil imports or abandoning our cars, we can offset a significant portion of demand for
oil by giving American consumers a real choice of automotive fuel," Lugar said.
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Pete Domenici (Republican, New Mexico), a chief
author of that law, is developing follow-on legislation for action next year that aims to improve
prospects for new oil refineries, a priority of Bush's, encourage new offshore drilling and increase energy
efficiency. That may well be the vehicle for some of the new proposals; in the past, Domenici has
incorporated others' language in his energy bill. Lieberman said he hoped Domenici would hold a hearing on
S. 2025.
Separately, Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee
Chairman Ted Stevens (Republican, Alaska) has said he will pursue a bill to prohibit gasoline price
gouging.
Created: Dec 21, 2005
Next Page: Not just the energy committee anymore
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