Hike in fuel efficiency standards, ethanol use coming as energy bill clears Congress

By Herman Wang

Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON -- The House on Tuesday passed an energy bill, sending to President Bush legislation that calls for the first increase in vehicle fuel-economy standards in more than three decades.

The bill, which also would require a major increase in ethanol use, passed 314-100 after clearing the Senate 83-6 last week, and President Bush is expected to sign it into law today.

Supporters applauded the measure and said it would make the country more energy independent while lowering the cost of fuel and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The bill "is groundbreaking in terms of what it will do in savings to the consumer, what it is doing in terms of protecting the environment and again, in what it is doing to provide a new direction," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said.

But opponents, mostly Republicans, said the bill does not go far enough in encouraging domestic fossil fuel production or incentivizing nuclear energy.

"It doesn't do one thing to produce a drop of energy or move us towards energy independence," Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said.

The bill, which all four Tennessee and Georgia senators voted for, would increase fuel economy standards for vehicles to 35 miles per gallon by 2020, up 40 percent from current levels, which were enacted in 1975.

It also would mandate the use of up to 36 billion gallons of ethanol, a six-fold increase, by 2022, and it would create new energy efficiency standards for home appliances and buildings.

Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., who voted against previous versions of the bill, supported it this time after two provisions were stripped out.

One would have rescinded $13.5 billion in tax breaks for oil companies and used the money to incentivize alternative energy sources, while the other would have required utilities to produce 15 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020.

"There are some things not in there, like (incentives for) nuclear power, that I'm disappointed in, and there are things in there that shouldn't be, but at the end of the day this is the best change we're going to get anytime soon to move energy independence forward," Rep. Wamp said.

Rep. Nathan Deal, R-Ga., voted against the bill, protesting its emphasis on corn-based ethanol until 2015, when it begins encouraging the production of cellulosic ethanol, made from materials such as switchgrass. He said with corn-based ethanol production driving up the price of corn, poultry growers and processors in his home district are hurting.

"That makes them less competitive in the international marketplace on poultry when their feed costs go up so high," Rep. Deal said. "Don't legislatively prefer energy over food, when the same product can be used for both."

Democrats said the bill would save the average driver $700 to $1,000 a year in fuel costs and reduce U.S. oil usage by 4 million barrels a day by 2030.

They also pledged to bring back the stripped provisions of the bill next year.

"Obviously, renewable energy has to be a part of any energy policy," said Rep. Lincoln Davis, D-Tenn., who voted for the bill. "We have to look at alternatives and looking at taking some of those tax incentives given to oil companies and start using those dollars to get moving on alternative sources."

E-mail Herman Wang at hwang@timesfreepress.com