WASHINGTON -- President Bush on Wednesday signed the Energy Independence & Security Act of 2007, which will improve vehicle fuel economy and help reduce U.S. dependence on oil. The House passed the bill on Tuesday by a vote of 314-100. The Senate passed it last Thursday by a vote of 86-8.
He said the bill responds to the challenge of the "Twenty in Ten" initiative that he announced in the 2007 State of the Union address in January.It represents a major step forward in expanding the production of renewable fuels, reducing our dependence on oil and [image-nocss] confronting global climate change, he said.
The new legislation boosts auto fuel economy for the first time in 32 years, said the Associated Press. And to spur increased demand for nonfossil fuels, the bill also requires a six-fold increase in ethanol use to 36 billion gallons a year by 2022, considered a boon to farmers.
And it requires new energy efficiency standards for an array of appliances, lighting and commercial and government buildings.
"This is a choice between yesterday and tomorrow" on energy policy, declared House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who was closely involved in crafting the legislation. "It's groundbreaking in what it will do."
Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) acknowledged that they didn't get all they wantedthey were unable to push through a tax package that would have rolled back $13.5 billion in tax breaks for oil companies and used the money to help spur wind, solar and biomass energy development and conservation programs.
The House passed the tax provisions, but the Senate fell one vote short of getting it through under threat of a presidential veto and a GOP filibuster.
"This legislation is a historic turning point in energy policy," said Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), because it will cut demand for foreign oil and promote nonfossil fuels that will cut greenhouse gases linked to global warming.
Many Republicans denounced the Democratic-crafted bill for failing to push for more domestic production of fossil fuels and for mandates some GOP lawmakers warned will not be possible. "What we have here is a mandatory conservation bill," said Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas). He argued that the auto fuel efficiency requirements and the huge increase in ethanol use may not prove to be technologically or economically possible.
The centerpiece of the bill remained the requirement for automakers to increase their industrywide vehicle fuel efficiency by 40% to an industry average of 35 mpg by 2020 compared to today's 25 mpg when including passenger cars as well as SUVs and small trucks. Congress has not changed the auto mileage requirement since it was first enacted in 1975.
Democrats said the fuel economy requirementswhen the fleet of gas-miser vehicles are widely on the roadeventually will save motorists $700 to $1,000 a year in fuel costs. They maintain the overall bill, including more ethanol use and various efficiency requirements and incentives, will reduce U.S. oil demand by 4 million barrels a day by 2030, more than twice the daily imports from the volatile Persian Gulf.
The automakers have repeatedly fought an increase in the federal fuel standard, known as Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAF a), maintaining it would limit the range of vehicles consumers will have available in showrooms and threaten auto industry jobs. Bush also has argued against an arbitrary, numerical increase in the fuel efficiency requirement, preferring instead legislation to streamline the federal requirements and market incentives to get rid of gas-guzzling vehicles.
But the automakers have accepted the political shift toward a tougher requirement. After the Senate approved the legislation last week, the White House immediately said Bush would sign it once it reaches his desk. "While the president's alternative fuel standard and CAFE proposal would have gone farther and faster, we are pleased that Congress has worked together on a bipartisan way that provides the chance for the president to sign a bill that does not include tax increases." said White House press secretary Dana Perino.
The bill requires a massive increase in the production of ethanol for motor fuels, outlining a rampup of ethanol use from the roughly 6 billion gallons this year to 36 billion gallons by 2022. After 2015, the emphasis would be on expanded use of cellulosic ethanol, made from such feedstock as switchgrass and wood chips, with two thirds of the ethanol21 billion gallons a yearfrom such noncorn sources; however, commercially viable production of cellulosic ethanol has yet to be proven and some Republicans have argued that the new requirements could be impossible to meet and may raise corn prices and food supplies.
The bill allows for a waiver if producers are unable to meet the federal requirement for cellulosic ethanol, which rises dramatically after 2015. "We have every confidence that we can meet the target," said Matt Hartwig, a spokesperson for the Renewable Fuels Association, which represents ethanol producers.
Click here to view the complete White House statement on the signing of the Energy Independence & Security Act of 2007.
Click here to view the complete White House statement on how the energy bill responds to the president's "Twenty in Ten" vision.
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