Along with my colleagues Reps. Tom Cole (R-OK) and Matt Salmon (R-AZ), I introduced the Fuel Choice for American Prosperity and Security Act (FCAPS, or H.R. 5107), a bill to promote fuel competition in our transportation sector. In particular, FCAPS aims to:
- Improve energy and national security by reducing the strategic importance of oil;
- Save consumers money at the pump by opening vehicles to fuel competition;
- Spur economic growth by allowing industry to capitalize on more of America’s natural resources; and
- Reduce the financial burden for automakers and consumers of meeting corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) regulations.
Opening cars to competitive fuel sources – allowing consumers to make an at-the-pump choice about different fuels by comparing cost per mile – would drive down the price of fuel, reduce the leverage of oil rich government and regimes, and encourage economic growth and innovation. Vehicles capable of operating on gasoline as well as liquid fuels made from natural gas, coal, biomass, or any combination of such fuels, cost under $100 extra to manufacture than gasoline only cars.
The bill gives automakers the option of reducing their CAFE obligation by 4 miles per gallon if they make half or more of the vehicles they manufacture in a model year, fuel-choice-enabling vehicles. For example, an automaker that under current law is required to attain an average fuel economy of 54.5mpg for its fleet would now have the option of reducing its obligation to 50.5mpg if it chooses to make half of its vehicles fuel flexible.
Please share your thoughts on my bill, “Fuel Choice for American Prosperity and Security Act.”
While mandating more flex fuel vehicles is a good thing, lowering CAFE standards is not. Even biofuels have environmental and economic impacts. For example, if ethanol fuel use increases dramatically,… Read more »
Dan Miller, a holistic approach proposed by this act may not be as bad a strategy as you believe. While efficiency (i.e. CAFE standards) is certainly necessary to manage our… Read more »
Gal: Thank you for your comments. I agree that a holistic approach is best. That is why I favor a carbon fee over the government picking technologies, as is the… Read more »
This proposal is long overdue and should be supported. The basic objective is a No Brainer! The details will have to be studied and discussed. There should be no need… Read more »
Natural Gas is indeed mostly methane and methane is an extremely powerful greenhouse gas: NY Times: “Study Finds Methane Leaks Negate Benefits of Natural Gas as a Fuel for Vehicles”… Read more »
Methane’s “global warming potential” (GWP) of 34 means that it is 34 times more potent a GHG than CO2. But it pales in comparison to the 298 GWP of nitrous… Read more »
Ike: Because I listen to the scientists and they say CO2 (with a GWP of 1) and methane are two gases to worry the most about more than the others.… Read more »
Dan, All these are long-lived, non-condensing, well-mixed greenhouse gases, and that is precisely why they have these high GWP values, which are incidentally calculated for a 100-yr threshold. If the… Read more »
Ike: As you probably know, according to the EPA, CO2 represents 82% of manmade GHG emissions, methane is 9%, nitrous oxide 6%, and fluorinated gases, 3%. These are all in… Read more »
Dan, You say, “Obviously, CO2 is the critical gas to focus on.” This is another first-order logic error. By wrongly focusing only on CO2, the federal government is driving people… Read more »
Yes, lets’ pay attention to all the GHG’s not just CO2 but also Nitrous oxide and methane. Recent conclusions from The Green House Gas Bulletin published by the WMO—the United… Read more »
Jane, FYI the 100-yr GWP value, not the 20-yr, is the proper one to use as set by the Kyoto Protocols, UN IPCC, and ISO 14067. On the topic of… Read more »
Ike, Why in the world do you want to use a figure that measures the effects of methane in the atmosphere over a time frame that is irrelevant? The ‘84… Read more »
Jane said, “Why in the world do you want to use a figure that measures the effects of methane in the atmosphere over a time frame that is irrelevant?” So,… Read more »
Representatives Ros-Lehtinen, Cole, and Salmon’s “Fuel Choice for American Prosperity and Security Act” proposal to promote flex-fuel vehicle production is not getting at the heart of the problem of oil… Read more »
Congessman Ros-Lehtinen, VW’s new Hypercar, the XL1, gets 235 mpg. using the concepts developed 20 years ago. While the XL1 too expensive for the consumer market, it and other hypercars… Read more »
The United States needs more flex-fueled vehicles. Multi-fueled engines allow consumers to have maximum choice including costs, lowest emissions, best drivability, or whatever has maximum value to them. From a… Read more »
I support the Ros-Lehtinen, Cole and Salmon ”Fuel Choice. . . . .” bill H.R. 5107 which could result in over five million additional flex fuel vehicles per year. This… Read more »
I fully support fuel choice. Give Americans the choice of 100% petroleum gasoline without the heavy hand of government forcing them to put an inferior and destructive additive into their… Read more »
I don’t believe reducing CAFE standards would make our country more energy independent and would instead concentrate on these energy policy recommendations by the IEEE USA energy policy committee http://www.ieeeusa.org/policy/positions/IEEE-USA-NEPR-2014.pdf
Ike, Guess I was not clear … The point being that the time frame during which each gas causes climate damage is indeed different. If methane’s time frame is 10-12… Read more »
“If methane’s time frame is 10-12 years in the atmosphere before it dissipates, and it’s effect on the climate is 86 times worse than the same amount of carbon emissions… Read more »
Ike, I keep feeling that you are not actually reading what I have relayed … as I said earlier, the ocean absorbs about ¼ of all the carbon released. I… Read more »
Jane, I read all your comments, I have read this paper. There is nothing in Howarth 2011 that the IPCC is not aware of. The choice of time-horizon to use… Read more »