The Toyota Priusreportedly gets 60 miles per gallon on city roads.
Senate approves energy bill by SI Staff - 6.22.07
The U.S. Senate last night approved energy legislation that, if passed by the House and signed into law by President Bush, would increase vehicle fuel-efficiency standards for the first time in three decades. The bill also calls for an increase in biofuel production to 36 billion gallons by 2022. Despite persistent lobbying from auto manufacturers, the Senate gained approval to raise current efficiency standards of 27.5 miles per gallon for cars to 35 miles per gallon. Auto companies would be required to meet the new standard by 2020. The higher fuel-efficiency standards could reduce carbon dioxide emissions from automobiles by 18 percent by 2025, according to the bill's proponents. Democrats did not harness enough support for a provision that would raise taxes on oil companies by about $32 billion. The money was slated to provide tax breaks for wind power, solar power and other renewable energy development. In his 2007 State of the Union address, President Bush supported a significant increase in biofuel production, mainly ethanol. While U.S. biodiesel production nearly tripled in 2006 to reach 250 million gallons, according to the National Biodiesel Board, biodiesel consumption pales in comparison with the nation’s 140-billion-gallon annual appetite for gasoline. The energy bill must pass the House before it is passed on to the President.
