WASHINGTON -- Sixteen members of the Michigan congressional delegation have urged President Bush to ask major oil companies to increase the number of stations providing the E85 ethanol-gasoline blend.
Providing consumers access to E85 would help to reduce America's reliance on foreign oil, decrease greenhouse gas emissions and meet the demands of the increased number of flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs) produced by the domestic auto industry, they said.
There is a critical missing piece in our nation's efforts to reduce our reliance [image-nocss] on oil, the Michigan Congress members wrote to President Bush. A major barrier to the use of Flexible Fuel Vehicles to reduce oil consumption is the lack of fueling stations that provide E85.
Nearly six million FFVs that are capable of running on E85 are on the road today. The domestic auto industry has committed to build more than one million new FFVs annually by 2008. However, less than 1% of fueling stationsonly 600 out of the 170,000 U.S. gas stationsoffer E85. That prevents the FFVs from achieving their maximum energy efficiency.
Without significant steps to spur development of the necessary E85 infrastructure, all of the efforts to increase the production of ethanol and availability of FFVs will be for naught, the Congress members wrote.
In his State of the Union address, President Bush stressed the importance of reducing the nation's dependence on foreign oil and indicated that ethanol and other renewable fuels can help to reduce oil consumption. In their letter to the President today, the Michigan congressional delegation members urged that the President utilize his much discussed meeting with the automotive CEOs as an opportunity to highlight his commitment to increasing our national use of renewable fuels by seeking a specific target of increased E85 pumps by 2010.
The letter was signed by Michigan Senators Carl Levin (D) and Debbie Stabenow (D) and by Michigan Representatives John Dingell (D), Fred Upton (R), Sander Levin (D), Dale Kildee (D), Joe Schwarz (R), Carolyn Kilpatrick (D), Dave Camp (R), Bart Stupak (D), John Conyers (D), Joe Knollenberg (R), Candice Miller (R), Peter Hoekstra (R), Mike Rogers (R) and Thaddeus McCotter (R).
Click here to read the full letter.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.