House bill would push for green cars faster
By: Susan Ferrechio
Chief Congressional Correspondent
April 1, 2009
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| Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., wants to bring his energy bill to the floor by Memorial Day. (AP photo) |
While the Obama administration hasn’t identified a role for Congress in remaking the auto industry, proposed rules for car makers coming from House Democrats show they plan to be riding shotgun — especially in turning Detroit green.
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry A. Waxman put forth a bill Tuesday that would nationalize low fuel-emission standards for vehicles made in the United States and call for producing more electric cars.
Waxman, D-Calif., included the proposals in a 650 page draft of an energy and global warming bill that he hopes to bring to the House floor by Memorial Day.
The plan includes a litany of energy-saving and pollution-curbing initiatives, such as a cap-and-trade system to limit greenhouse gas emissions and a requirement that power companies get a quarter of their energy from renewable sources within 15 years.
Waxman’s bill also targets the beleaguered car industry.
Billions of taxpayer dollars are the only things keeping Chrysler and General Motors afloat, and to keep the money coming, President Barack Obama said he will require the companies to make more earth-friendly vehicles. Waxman’s bill would force fast movement in that direction.
The plan would establish new low-carbon fuel standards to promote the use of hydrogen powered cars, electric cars and cars powered by ethanol or biodiesel. It also calls for giving federal money to governments or private companies for “large-scale demonstrations of electric vehicles.” His bill would even provide tax dollars for car companies to “retool their plants” to build electric cars.
And the stringent California fuel economy standards for cars — 36 miles per gallon by 2015 — could become the national standard, if Waxman gets his wish. His bill would direct Obama to “harmonize to the maximum extent possible” California’s tougher standards and the national fuel economy requirements, which call for a less-ambitions 31.6 miles per gallon by 2015.
Brookings Institution climate, energy and technology scholar Bryan Mignone said Congress and the White House, “seem to have the same vision for reforming Detroit in a way that is going to produce greener cars.”
Waxman said Tuesday that Obama’s plan for the car companies “makes a lot of sense.” He predicted his own legislation will pass the House “and change the dynamic in the Senate,” where there will be much greater resistance to some of his energy initiatives.
But Rep. Dale E. Kildee, D-Mich., noted “it is always a divided Congress” when it comes to legislation that attempts to regulate the auto industry.
“I always support reasonable improvements,” in fuel efficiency, Kildee said. “But they have to be economically feasible and technologically feasible.”
Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., who has played a leading role the government bailout negotiations with the auto industry earlier this year, said government involvement in running the companies has gone too far.
“This is a bright line that our country has stepped across,” Corker said Tuesday. “This is one where people should stand up and wake up and realize we have begun to get involved in industrial policy.”
