Congress approves landmark energy legislation

WASHINGTON – The first new fuel-economy standards in 32 years, a fourfold increase in the use of ethanol and other “biofuels” and a phase-out of traditional incandescent light bulbs are among the changes required by an energy measure approved today by the U.S. House of Representatives, according to Bloomberg News. The legislation aims to cut more than 20 percent of the carbon emissions that scientists say must be eliminated by 2050 to fight global warming.
Before approving the measure last week, the Senate removed a provision that would have rolled back some tax credits for oil and gas companies to raise $13.5 billion over 10 years that would help fund credits for wind, solar and biomass power producers; and eliminated a requirement that some utility companies derive 15 percent of their power from solar and other renewable sources.
The measure is still “a historic turning point in American energy policy,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said today. “It’s huge,” agreed Earl Jones, senior counsel for Fairfield, Conn.-based General Electric Co., which was founded by incandescent inventor Thomas A. Edison. “Literally, the amount of energy that’s being saved by the light-bulb standard alone is more than has been achieved since 1986 for all appliances combined.” Another section calls for appliance makers to cut water usage by dishwashers 28 percent and clothes washers 40 percent, while improving energy efficiency, and requires higher efficiency for other appliances as well.
Proponents said the measure will save U.S. consumers $80 billion by 2030, by boosting automotive fuel efficiency with a tighter CAFE standard and lowering household and commercial electricity and natural gas usage. But Lowell Ungar, policy director for the Alliance to Save Energy, said many of the initiatives can’t work unless Congress takes separate action to provide the tens of billions of dollars they would require, while other critics condemned the measure’s heavy reliance on ethanol in auto fuels.
The legislation, which cleared the House today by a vote of 314 to 100, is expected to be signed into law tomorrow by President George W. Bush.