Congress mandates trading blood for oil by increasing CAFE standards

[Little-Acorn]

I guess they never learn. Increasing fuel economy standards will result in lighter cars, with thinner frames, weaker bodies etc. And those will result directly in more deaths and injuries on the highway.

Study after study has shown that if you crash two small cars together, the chances of death or serious injury to the occupants are much higher than if you crash two large cars together. And of course, if you crash a large car and small car together, guess who loses even more. But we WILL save gas.

What happened to the protestors who kept shouting "No blood for oil!"? Where are they when the country really needs them?

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http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8TK1E2G4&show_article=1

Congress Requires Better Car, SUV Mileage

Dec 18 01:50 PM US/Eastern

WASHINGTON (AP) - Congress by a wide margin approved the first increase in automobile fuel economy in 32 years Tuesday, and President Bush has signaled he will accept the mandates on the auto industry.
The energy bill, boosting mileage by 40 percent to 35 miles per gallon, passed the House 314-100 and now goes to the White House, following the Senate's approved last week.

The bill includes the new 35-miles-per-gallon standard, a huge increase in the use of ethanol and new energy efficiency standards for appliances and building construction.

"This legislation is a historic turning point in energy policy," said Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland because it will cut demand for foreign oil and promote nonfossil fuels that will cut greenhouse gases linked to global warming.

It increases energy efficiency "from light bulbs to light trucks," said Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., a longtime protector of the auto industry who was key to a compromise on vehicle efficiency increases.

Many Republicans denounced the Democratic-crafted bill for failing to push for more domestic production of fossil fuels and for mandates some GOP lawmakers warned will not be possible.

"What we have here is a mandatory conservation bill," said Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas. He argued that both the auto fuel efficiency requirements and the huge increase in ethanol use may not prove to be technologically or economically possible.

Democrats disagreed. The legislation takes measured and concrete steps that are achievable, said Dingell.

The Senate passed the bill last week after discarding billions of dollars in higher taxes on oil companies and a solar and wind power mandate that opponents said would raise electric rates in the Southeast. Those measures were opposed by President Bush and Senate Republicans.

The centerpiece of the bill remained the requirement for automakers to increase their industrywide vehicle fuel efficiency by 40 percent to an industry average of 35 mpg by 2020 compared to today's 25 mpg when including passenger cars as well as SUVs and small trucks.

[hjmick]

I'll keep my FJ Cruiser, thanks anyway.

[glockmail]

How will I know that I've run over one of these car with my Expedition?

[darin]

Same reason they don't mind kids dying from mandatory airbags in vehicles - it's all about what BRIEFS well. They support legislation which makes them, on the surface, seem like a GOOD guy to the foolish Majority of their constituency.

[Little-Acorn]

How will I know that I've run over one of these car with my Expedition?

You may notice fewer cars on the road around you.

A win-win situation.

Proceed.

.

[JohnDoe]

I think it is a good idea. :) And i think that we are smart enough to make them safe, or as safe as they are now, if we put our minds to it and there is an incentive to do such.

jd

[glockmail]

I think it is a good idea. :) And i think that we are smart enough to make them safe, or as safe as they are now, if we put our minds to it and there is an incentive to do such.

jd All kidding aside, the biggest danger to small cars are trucks. I drive a large SUV so my family at least has a chance. Are you going to ban tractor-trailers as well? How about decimating the railroad unions and deregulating the rail indusrty, thus putting more freight on rails and off the highways?

[darin]

I prefer to let the Market decide. See, I'm FOR FREEDOM...I'm NOT for a Nanny State where "The Man" Knows best, and decided how I should spend my dollar, or run my life.

[manu1959]

when 20 whatever rolls around they will let the auto industry off the hook on this just like the always do....

[JohnDoe]

All kidding aside, the biggest danger to small cars are trucks. I drive a large SUV so my family at least has a chance. Are you going to ban tractor-trailers as well? How about decimating the railroad unions and deregulating the rail indusrty, thus putting more freight on rails and off the highways?
i don't know much about railroad regulations glock, but if they are silly regs, by all means, get rid of them, so less mack and peterbuilt trucks are on the road because our goods would be transported by trains!

i would be killed in a headon with you, i drive a 35 miles to the gallon hyundai!

:eek:

guess that's the price i would pay by retiring young and trying to live on the cheap!

jd

[JohnDoe]

when 20 whatever rolls around they will let the auto industry off the hook on this just like the always do.... they might, but the auto industry might also see the $$$$$ signs and go for it!

I am certain they can figure out a way to make the big suv's safe while polluting less..... SHOOT, they probably already have created them, but were holding out for gvt welfare, (gvt incentive dollars)....

SUV sales are down bigtime because of gas prices....they have already put in motion more gas efficient SUV's imo, well....if they were smart they did....

jd

[manu1959]

i don't know much about railroad regulations glock, but if they are silly regs, by all means, get rid of them, so less mack and peterbuilt trucks are on the road because our goods would be transported by trains!

i would be killed in a headon with you, i drive a 35 miles to the gallon hyundai!
:eek:

guess that's the price i would pay by retiring young and trying to live on the cheap!

jd

buying korean huh....and people wonder why the trade deficit is so high....

[JohnDoe]

buying korean huh....and people wonder why the trade deficit is so high.... yah, i am awashed with guilt!!!! all for the 35 miles to the gallon....shame on me!!!! lol

what do you drive that is American made?

[manu1959]

yah, i am awashed with guilt!!!! all for the 35 miles to the gallon....shame on me!!!! lol

what do you drive that is American made?

nothing but i don't complain about the trade deficit....

[JohnDoe]

nothing but i don't complain about the trade deficit....

and you've seen me do such? :slap:

btw, i think my hyundai IS MADE in the USA, alabama i believe?

jd

[manu1959]

and you've seen me do such? :slap:

btw, i think my hyundai IS MADE in the USA, alabama i believe?

jd

didn't accuse you.....

[glockmail]

i don't know much about railroad regulations glock, but if they are silly regs, by all means, get rid of them, so less mack and peterbuilt trucks are on the road because our goods would be transported by trains!

i would be killed in a headon with you, i drive a 35 miles to the gallon hyundai!

:eek:

guess that's the price i would pay by retiring young and trying to live on the cheap!

jd
The railroads are the most efficient means to move tonnage since there is so little friction loss between a steel wheel and a steel rail. When I was in the carting business we tried to set up a medium haul from upstate NY to Ohio, and found it to be nearly impossible, due to having to deal with the monopoly of Conrail.

ten years later I went with my daughter's class from Greesnboro to Raleigh by Amtrak. I was looking forward to our meeting with some big politicians and a tour of the State House, but we were two hours late, on a 90 minute trip. They picked us up, in the morning, 45 minutes late, and had to stop the train twice to let freight go by. Imagine humans getting a lower priority than freight. On the return trip we were three hours late.

I could go on with stories, but every time I have done business with the railroads I have been shafted.

[Little-Acorn]

Today Bush signed it.

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http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=a0UBoequvcVM

Bush Signs Energy Bill Mandating Tougher Efficiency Standards

By Daniel Whitten
More Photos/Details

Dec. 19 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush today signed legislation aimed at cutting U.S. dependence on overseas energy by setting tougher mandates for carmakers, electric- appliance manufacturers and ethanol producers.

The law contains the first new vehicle fuel economy law in 32 years and mandates a fourfold increase in the use of biofuels. It also phases out traditional light bulbs and places the first limits on the amount of water used in new washing machines and dishwashers.

The new law is `` a major step toward reducing our dependence on oil, confronting global climate change, expanding the production of renewable fuels and giving future generations of our country a nation that is stronger, cleaner and more secure,'' Bush said before signing the legislation at the Department of Energy in Washington.

Bush pinpointed ethanol production and new fuel economy standards in his January State of the Union address as crucial elements in meeting his goal of cutting gasoline use by 20 percent by 2017.

The legislation was sent to the White House last night in a hybrid Toyota Prius, according to an e-mail from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office. Pelosi, a California Democrat, said the law would save the average driver between $700 and $1,000 per year in gasoline costs.

Before passing the measure last week, the Senate dropped a provision that would have extended tax credits to wind, solar and biomass power producers and raised taxes on oil and gas companies by about $13 billion over 10 years to pay for that. The Senate also dropped a requirement that some utilities get 15 percent of their power from renewable sources.

Concessions for Carmakers

Many provisions in the measure were agreed to by the regulated industry groups. For example, Representative John Dingell, a Michigan Democrat, won concessions for the U.S. auto industry, including allowing carmakers to continue making large sport utility vehicles without being at a competitive disadvantage against foreign rivals that make fewer large vehicles.

Likewise, Amsterdam-based Royal Philips Electronic NV, the world's largest light-bulb maker, and Fairfield, Connecticut- based General Electric Co., which are regulated by the law, successfully argued for exemptions from the mandate for certain specialty lamps.

Perhaps the biggest winners were companies like Archer- Daniels-Midland Co. and Pacific Ethanol Inc. in the ethanol industry. The legislation requires that biofuels be blended with gasoline to reduce the amount of petroleum needed for U.S. transportation. It boosts the requirement for production of biofuels to 36 billion gallons in 2022 from 7.5 billion in 2012.

`Favorable for Ethanol'

``The outcome is a favorable one for the ethanol industry, for the crop sector, and for agribusiness companies leveraged to grains and oilseeds,'' Mark McMinimy, a Washington-based analyst for the Stanford Group Co., wrote in a note yesterday.

``I think it's a turkey,'' said Michael Carboy an analyst for Baltimore-based Signal Hill Capital Group, an investor in clean energy. Carboy, in an interview, said the bill is ``astonishingly weak'' because of its exclusion of renewable electricity incentives and its reliance on ethanol to cut oil use.

Congress ``seems to be putting a lot more care and attention in the direction of ethanol than frankly they should,'' Carboy said. Lawmakers went along ``with the agricultural support program that this administration seems to want to pursue.''

[Classact]

This energy bill along with other measures in the farm bill will help America! How, because they contain no energy and promote farmers growing whiskey to fuel cars... that will make food prices go through the roof and as a result we will go into stagflation...

Americans will get really pissed at democrats and then they will get really pissed at illegal immigrants they will have to compete with for earning enough money to fill their tanks... democrats will be fired and illegal Mexicans will flee at their own will back to Mexico at fear of being killed on day labor corners.

I see milk at $6 a gallon and a supermarket T-bone at $15 by next year this time... no one will be getting a pay raise... people will keep the cars they have because they won't be able to afford to trade them in for the new class of autos.

I give you odds the car makers will make a class of light pickup trucks that looks like a SUV that will qualify for lower mileage standards... there is always a way around the fuel standards by selling a "commercial hauler" class of vehicle for those who can afford the gas.