Senate passes first CAFE increase in two decades

After months of wrangling, the U.S. Senate passed an energy bill late this week that would require the first big increase in automobile fuel efficiency in over two decades.

The part of the bill focused on increasing fuel efficiency was adopted by a vote of 65 to 27. The car companies had lobbied heavily for months against the more stringent fuel efficiency requirements, arguing they were willing to accept a 30 percent increase for light trucks (SUVs, pickups, and minivans), but no higher; they were unable to win the day.  Instead, they got an increase to 35 miles per gallon. However, the Senate gave the auto industry a break by omitting explicit requirements for increased fuel efficiency after 2020. Nevertheless, the Senate vote is considered a defeat for car manufacturers, and now the two sides take their battle on tougher fuel-economy standards to the House of Representatives.

The Senate bill calls for an increase in the fuel economy of cars, pickups, SUVs, and vans from an average of about 25 miles per gallon (mpg) today to 35 mpg by the year 2020. Thereafter, it requires the maximum feasible progress. According to a study by the National Academy of Science, 35 miles per gallon for new vehicles is achievable with off-the-shelf technology. This savings can be achieved with improvements in ignition, transmission, engine technology and body design changes, without reductions in weight.

The Senate bill also instructs the Department of Transportation to develop a plan by 2015 that--if technologically and economically feasible--could have half the vehicles sold in the U.S. run on alternative fuels.  This includes flex-fuel vehicles, hybrids, and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles. The Senate measure is expected to also reduce greenhouse gas emissions by one billion tons.

The Senate was unable, however, to pass provisions in this energy bill to raise taxes on oil companies by about $32 billion and to apply that increased tax revenue to tax benefits for alternative energy sources, like solar, ethanol, wind, or renewable fuels.

Nevertheless, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told the New York Times, “This bill starts America on a path toward reducing our reliance on oil by increasing the nation’s use of renewable fuels.”

Most environmental and consumer groups enthusiastically embraced the Senate’s adoption of higher fuel efficiency standards, predicting that the provisions could save more than 1 million gallons of gas a day.

--Sally Greenberg