Democrats reach fuel efficiency deal

By H. Josef Hebert The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — An agreement among congressional Democrats — including those from auto industry states — to support a 40 percent increase in vehicle fuel efficiency is likely to be the tonic needed to push energy legislation through Congress before Christmas.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., a longtime protector of the auto industry, settled their differences in an agreement late Friday on the fuel economy, or CAFE, issue, clearing the way for a House vote on a broader energy bill, probably Wednesday.

Automakers would be required to meet an industrywide average of 35 miles per gallon for cars and light trucks, including SUVs, by 2020, the first increase by Congress in car fuel efficiency in 32 years.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada called the compromise “good news” and said he hoped to take up the legislation quickly after the House acts.

Dingell said the tougher standards are “both aggressive and attainable” and include provisions that give manufacturers the needed flexibility to bring SUVs and small trucks under compliance and to avoid job losses.

“We have achieved consensus on several provisions that provide critical environmental safeguards without jeopardizing American jobs,” said Dingell in a statement.

Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a statement that the tougher CAFE requirements “will serve as the cornerstone” of the energy bill, which also is expected to require a sharp increase in ethanol use as a motor fuel and require nonpublic electric utilities to produce 15 percent of their power from renewable energy sources such as wind or solar energy.

The amount of ethanol required to be used as a motor fuel would be ramped up to 36 billion gallons a year by 2022, a sevenfold increase over today’s production.

Dingell’s support for the new CAFE requirements avoids what otherwise was almost certain to have been a contentious — some say “bloody” — floor debate over energy this week. Dingell, the longest-serving member of the House and chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, likely would have been joined by a number of other Democrats in opposing the bill.

Instead, the legislation, while criticized by most Republicans, is expected to have smooth sailing.

But the negotiations had as much to do with the Senate as the House.

The compromise quickly received the endorsement of senators who long have opposed increased fuel economy legislation, and whose support is viewed by Democratic leaders as essential if the energy bill is to get the 60 votes needed to overcome an almost certain GOP filibuster.

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., who strongly opposed the 35 mpg requirement when it passed the Senate in June, announced his support of the compromise.

It “will be challenging for auto manufacturers,” he said. “(But) we got concessions on some of the most important issues.”