Washington, DC – The U.S. Senate today approved a measure by Senator Mark Dayton to require the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to reduce its consumption of gasoline and diesel fuel by 20 percent. Since 1999, the agencies that now comprise DHS have increased their use of petroleum-based fuels by 9 percent—in direct violation of a 1999 Executive Order requiring federal agencies to use 1/5 less conventional gasoline and diesel by FY2005. Dayton’s amendment was accepted by unanimous consent, as part of the Homeland Security Appropriations bill (H.R.5441), which is expected to pass the Senate next week.

“President Bush has said our nation is addicted to oil, but what he failed to mention is that the federal government is the biggest addict of them all,” said Dayton.

The Department of Homeland Security currently owns 2,078 vehicles capable of running on alternative fuels, including E85 and biodiesel. However, in 2005, DHS used only 223,000 gallons of alternative fuel—just over 100 gallons per vehicle.

Part of the problem is that many of the federal fleet fueling stations nationwide do not have renewable fuel pumps. Dayton has introduced legislation, The Renewable Fuels Promotion Act (S. 2812), which would require every federal fueling station to be equipped with a renewable fuels pump.

According to the Department of Energy, only three of the 21 federal agencies are in compliance with the 1999 Executive Order. This year, the overall federal fleet had no reduction, but actually had an increase of 1.2 percent, compared to FY 1999.

On Saturday, Dayton will join national leaders in the biofuels and agriculture industries, in Minnesota, to discuss other ways to increase the availability of renewable fuels nationwide.

###