Senate: yes to CAFE boost, no to oil taxes

One small step forward, one step, uh, sideways

Posted by David Roberts at 4:43 PM on 21 Jun 2007

Read more about: politics | energy | US Senate | legislation

You may have heard that today the Senate reached a compromise on CAFE: they will keep the 35mpg-by-2020 requirement, but drop the 4%-every-year-thereafter requirement. The loophole for SUVs will be closed. (Bizarrely, newly minted environmentalist Ted Stevens [R-Alaska] was instrumental in keeping the amendment alive.)

This is good news, in a symbolic sort of way (suffice to say, when there are working vehicles on the road that get 100mpg, we shouldn't be satisfied with glacial, incremental gains). But it's offset by the bad news that an amendment to levy around $30 billion in taxes on the oil industry, with the funds devoted to renewable energy, fell three votes short of the 60 votes necessary to overcome the threatened Republican filibuster.

Yes, the Republicans threatened to filibuster in order to save the most profitable industry in the world, in history, from taxes. The fossil fuel lobby's really getting its money's worth!

For story: Senate: yes to CAFE boost, no to oil taxes
5 Comments | Post a Comment

Lethal

>> to save the most profitable industry in the world, in history, from taxes. The fossil fuel >>>>>

and the most lethal

by JohnCaley at 10:44 PM on 21 Jun 2007

But nothing on electric

Of concern here though is that every provision that would have affected electricity generation efficiency was scrapped, from the RPS to a package of investment tax credits for clean generation. Yes, there's stuff remaining about appliance efficiency, but at a practical level, this has really just become a transportation bill, at least until the amendments come.

by Sean Casten at 6:30 AM on 22 Jun 2007

Look on the bright side

... the bad news that an amendment to levy around $30 billion in taxes on the oil industry, with the funds devoted to renewable energy, fell three votes short ...

isn't really all that bad, right? Because this way the oil industry will have that money to devote to renewable energy itself.

--- G. R. L. Cowan, former hydrogen-energy fan
http://www.eagle.ca/~gcowan/boron_blast.html --
oxygen expands around boron fire, car goes

by GRLCowan at 7:10 AM on 22 Jun 2007

CAFE Bill

Well,I don't understand why Nancy Pelosi is so exstatic about this bill.She said that she thought that the senate would be argueing about this bill all night.So what!!! That is the job of our representatives.Whatever happened to all the great promises that were brought up at the last senate race?Whatever happened to fighting and getting big business to pay their less than fair share?Why is everybody so damn happy about a few crumbs from the table of big business? Oh,there was a threatened fillibuster.So what!Make the republicans or whoever come up with a fillibuster show their true colors so that everybody can see that they are only concerned with where the money is coming from to line their pockets.So the president SAYS that he is going to veto a bill.So what!! Make him show his true colors and his real loyalty,which is to big business and NOT to the american people so that we can all see who he really cares about.Make him veto a bill instead of worrying about a supposed veto.What the hell is going on here!!!! Make these elected officials take a stand so that we can see who they are and vote them out next term.The democrats are just the same as the republicans and visa versa.They all just care about their jobs and lining their pockets and don't care spit about their constituents.Hey they've got theirs,so why should they worry about us?

Why not ask why!?

by usandthem at 6:40 AM on 23 Jun 2007

Be happy though

If I remember correctly, the bill killed off the 0.9mpg reduction for fielding flexfuel cars.

And apparently it patched up another quirk of the CAFE system.

Instead of a carmaker having an import fleet AND a domestic fleet, and having a seperate CAFE for both.

Instead they only have 1 CAFE for all.
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2007/06/24/detroit-says-niss ...

by GreyFlcn at 8:27 PM on 24 Jun 2007

ADVERTISING POLICY

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