House Leader Pushes Fuel Efficiency

Democratic lawmakers are hoping record oil prices will help push through Congress a stalled energy bill that would force automakers to produce more fuel-efficient vehicles. Rep. Ed Markey, chair of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, cited $97-a-barrel oil as evidence that, in his words, the United States has "almost no leverage" when it comes to oil -- other than to conserve it and seek alternatives.

"The single biggest step we can take to curb our oil dependence and remove OPEC's leverage is to raise the fuel economy of our automotive fleet," he said in a hearing this morning weighing the potential of a full-blown oil crisis. When Congress passed the original Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards in 1975, imported oil fell as a percentage of total consumption in the United States from 47 percent in 1977 to 27 percent in 1985.

Ranking member Rep. James Sensenbrenner spelled out the feelings of many Republicans on energy policy by calling for greater access to domestic oil and natural gas reserves. Sensenbrenner quoted estimates by the Department of Interior of 102 billion barrels of untapped oil in the United States.

"We have the energy supplies," Sensenbrenner said. "All we really need is the intellectual energy and political will to put them to work." Congress has wrangled over the energy bill for months, and an already difficult compromise between disparate Senate and House measures is complicated by a veto threat from the White House.

By Bret Schulte