Bill Improves Fuel Economy Standards While Protecting Jobs, Passenger Safety “It’s time for a fresh look at an old system,” Barton says WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, made the following statement today during the full committee markup of legislation authorizing the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to set passenger car fuel economy standards: “We have a problem in this country: our economy is outgrowing our ready energy supply, and we’ve seen the results at the gas pump. We in the Congress must use every tool we have to correct the supply and demand imbalance. “Last year, before Hurricane Katrina and today’s high gasoline prices, we had the bipartisan   foresight to take some needed steps that are already paying off. We improved electricity supply and reliability, we boosted biofuels and renewables and we promoted energy efficiency. “More work yet needs to be done. On the supply side we must increase domestic energy production and refining capacity. On the demand side, it’s time to look at improving automobile fuel efficiency. “Today car companies are investing hundreds of millions of dollars in new advanced technologies, like hybrid vehicles, fuel cells, and hydrogen vehicles. Public and private entities are investing, and should continue to invest, in alternative fuels and fueling infrastructure. “Giving the Department of Transportation authority to establish fuel economy standards for passenger cars is not the only answer, but saying no and doing nothing is not an answer at all. The committee print takes a step forward. It is one of many we will take to recover our energy security after decades of saying no to energy. “In March 2006, the Department of Transportation (DOT) released its initiative to reform fuel economy standards for light trucks. These changes will result in nearly 11 billion gallons of fuel saved over the life of the vehicles that will be sold between 2008 and 2011. There is no reason why the same approach for passenger cars cannot produce similar results. The DOT needs statutory authority to reform the fuel economy system for passenger cars. “At last week’s committee hearing we asked our witnesses how to best reform the CAFE system for passenger cars. The answer was loud and clear: look to vehicle attributes, such as size or weight. The committee print gives the DOT the ability to improve the CAFE program by considering such vehicle attributes. This will result in a system that increases energy savings, treats competitive players fairly, and will not impact vehicle safety. The passenger car system has remained untouched for too long – it’s time that we require a fresh look at an old system. “Any CAFE standard should be based on sound science. This is one of the most complicated programs that the NHTSA administers. It took thousands of personnel hours, many engineers and super computer models to revamp the light truck system. “There’s more to CAFE than pulling a mile-per-gallon number out of the air and slapping it on a car window. If window-dressing was all that we wanted, we could declare 100 miles a gallon to be the rule and walk away. We’d be walking, all right, because the automobile industry couldn’t meet that particular standard. We don’t want it to be done that way. “We want people who know what they’re doing to get the right balance of mileage, safety and jobs, and we want them to do it without destroying our American automobile makers and all of the many workers and vendors that make that industry a great part of our manufacturing capability in the United States. An issue like this deserves to be considered by an expert agency. This decision is too important for politics as usual.” ####