|
Senate Shifts into Drive on Fuel Economy, Ending Debate Sierra Club Turns to House, Remaining Votes to Strengthen Package A bipartisan group of Senators announced a new compromise on fuel economy that will allow it to move forward despite strong opposition from the auto industry and its friends in the Senate. The Senate, voting 57-36, failed to end debate on a package of energy tax incentives written by the Finance Committee. Subsequently, the Senate voted 61-32 to end debate on the Reid substitute amendment to HR 6--the substance of the bill. Several additional votes to end debate or on final passage remain before the bill is completed. Statement of Dan Becker, Director, Global Warming Program "For the first time in three decades, a majority of Senators are poised to tell automakers: enough delay, enough gas guzzlers, enough pollution and enough failure. Now we look to the House to strengthen this compromise to guarantee that it accomplishes enough to be meaningful. "Fuel economy standards have barely budged for two decades and this carefully-balanced compromise will get them moving ahead for the first time since the original CAFE law was signed by the late President Gerald Ford of Michigan. A meaningful increase in CAFE standards is essential to tackling some of America’s most pressing problems: global warming, oil addiction, and the pain at the pump that American families are suffering each and every day. In 2020, this bill will save us 1.2 million barrels oil per day, save consumers $25 billion at the pump each year, and create over 170,000 new jobs. "If automakers were half as good at making efficient cars as they are at fighting new environmental and safety laws, they’d all be enjoying record profits. They have been using the same excuses and scare-tactics for decades to oppose every major improvement in safety and emissions. The American people and the Senate saw through these cynical ploys and now the automakers will be required to make the kind of vehicles that are good for consumers, good for the environment, and, ultimately, good for the automakers themselves. Statement of Carl Pope, Sierra Club Executive Director "It is encouraging that a super-majority of Senators voted to end debate on the substance of the bill; however, a minority of Senators blocked the Senate from moving to fair up or down votes—or any vote at all in some cases—on other essential elements of a sound energy policy. The American people are demanding solutions to address global warming, oil addiction, and consumer energy costs. A bipartisan majority of the Senate was ready to move forward to begin providing those solutions, and it is unconscionable that a handful of Senators blocked that progress. "It is extremely disappointing that this bill will not include a Renewable Electricity Standard--a provision that enjoys the support of a super-majority in the Senate, and which 23 states have already adopted. We look forward to working with the leadership in the Senate to bring this issue up for a vote as soon as possible. "Senators came very close today to achieving the super-majority necessary to add a package of tax incentives that is essential to jumpstarting the new clean energy economy. We hope that the bipartisan majority that supports this package will have another chance to overcome the objections of a minority that is wedded to the dirty technologies of yesterday instead of the smart energy solutions that will fuel the economy of tomorrow." # # # |
