Senate passes energy bill, hikes fuel economy norms

Senate passes energy bill, hikes fuel economy norms
WASHINGTON: The U.S. Senate passed an energy bill Thursday that prescribes new automobile fuel standards and imposes stricter regimen on fuel use.

The senators through a late stage voice vote also approved an amendment to the original bill, which would increase average fuel economy from the current 25 miles a gallon to 35 miles a gallon for cars, sports utility vehicles and pickup trucks by the year 2020.

The senators passed the bill along with the amendment, voting 65-27.

The economy issue had almost thwarted the approval and Majority Leader Harry Reid had postponed the vote until the last minute so that adequate support could be mustered to gain the necessary margin for passage of the bill. Pro-auto industry senators had put up strong resistance to the fuel efficiency clause as the industry has been saying a strict efficiency requirement could spell doom for the auto manufacturers.

The amendment provides for regulators of the transportation sector to devise maximum feasible standards under the CAFE program, starting with models made in 2011.

The bill lays greater emphasis on the development of alternatives to fossil fuel, including development of gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles, electric vehicles and those running on a mix of gasoline and alternative fuels like ethanol. The bill also puts the onus on the transportation department to create necessary plans to have at least 50 per cent of the vehicles sold in the country to be capable of using alternative fuels by 2015.

The original bill proposed that the auto industry make efforts to achieve an additional 4 per cent in annual fuel economy gains after 2020.

The bill now allows annual goals to be set for different classes of vehicles -- like cars, SUVs, pickups, etc. -- based on their size and weight.

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives is discussing a bill without changes in vehicle fuel economy rates.

Observers felt the fuel economy proposal may face several hurdles before it became law. But, the Senate vote, they felt, reflected the thinking of the lawmakers on the need to tackle the issue in a more realistic manner.

President George Bush said the proposal was less than the goal of 35 miles per gallon by 2017 that he had made in his State of the Union address in January.