Transportation Emissions Proposals from the 109th Congress
S. 665: Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology Act, which would require DOE to conduct a R&D program on hydrogen energy and fuel cell technology which, among other things, reduce “carbon footprints” – i.e., the sum of carbon equivalent emissions from all energy conversion processes occurring from raw material through hydrogen production, distribution, and use.
Sponsor: Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND) (5 cosponsors)
S. 918: E-85 Fuel Utilization and Infrastructure Development Incentives Act, which would provide a retail sales credit of 35 cents for each gallon of alternative fuel, including any fuel of at least 85% ethanol, sold at retail fueling station. The bill states that high ration blend gasoline has the benefit of reducing GHG emissions. Sponsor: Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) (3 cosponsors)
S. 927: Fuel Cell And Hydrogen Technology Study, which would require DOE to contract with the National Academy of Sciences to provide a budget roadmap for the development of fuel cell technologies and the transition from petroleum to hydrogen in a significant percentage of the vehicles sold by 2020, and which would consider whether other technologies would be less expensive or could be more quickly implemented than fuel cell technologies to achieve significant reductions in CO2 emissions. Sponsor: Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) – Action: 6/22/05: Offered as an amendment to the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (H.R.6) and accepted by voice vote. 8/8/05: Enacted into law as part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Public Law 109-190). (See H.R.6 above.)
S. 1281: National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act, which, among other things, would authorize NASA to establish a zero-emissions aircraft research program to develop a hydrogen fuel cell-powered aircraft that would release no nitrogen oxide emissions into the environment. Sponsor: Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) (4 cosponsors) – Action: 12/30/05: Passed by House and Senate, becoming Public Law 109-155.
S. 2755: Energy Production, Refining, Infrastructure, Conservation and Efficiency (PRICE) Act, which, among other things, would increase the tax incentive for using CO2 for enhanced oil recovery if the CO2 is from an industrial source or is separated from natural gas and natural gas liquids.
Sponsor: Sen. Craig Thomas (R-WY)
S. 2984: Future Investment to Lessen Long-term Use of Petroleum (FILL UP) Act, which would require any company that produces, refines, distributes or sells petroleum products to expend at least 1 percent of its total profits from the first quarter of 2006 to install infrastructure to dispense E-85 or other alternative fuels at gasoline service stations, and finds that E-85 fuel produces less GHG emissions than conventional gasoline. Sponsor: Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL)
S.2993: Strategic Energy Fund Act, which, among other things, would increase the tax incentive for using CO2 captured from industrial sources for enhanced oil and natural gas recovery, and establish the position at the Department of Energy of Assistant Secretary for Advanced Energy Research, Technology Development, and Deployment, part of whose mission it is to significantly reduce GHG emissions by promoting climate-friendly technologies and practices. Sponsor: Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY)
S.3543: Ten-in-Ten Fuel Economy Act, which would raise fuel economy standards for passenger automobiles to 31.1 miles per gallon and for light trucks to 23.6 miles per gallon by model year 2009 and annually determine the associated annual reduction in GHG emissions. Additionally, the bill creates a green label program to be used to certify automobiles that adhere to specified fuel economy and GHG emission standards.
Sponsor: Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) (12 cosponsors)
S.4000: National Fuels Initiative, which, among other things, finds that inefficient and unclean use of oil worsens the threat of global climate change, and requires major oil companies to install E-85 pumps at 50% of their stations by 2017.
Sponsor: Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R-IN)
S.4003: Ethanol Infrastructure Expansion Act, which would require the Department of Energy to award funds to study the feasibility of constructing dedicated ethanol pipelines to increase the energy, economic, and environmental security of the United States and finds that ethanol is a clean, renewable fuel that provides public health benefits in the form of reduced emissions, including reduced GHG emissions that cause climate change.
Sponsor: Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) (1 cosponsor)
H.R.242: Surface Transportation Research and Development Act, which, among other things, would direct the Department of Transportation to study the relationship between transportation, energy, and climate change, including strategies to reduce GHG emissions, and evaluate the potential effects of climate change on the nation’s transportation systems as part of the National Climate Change Technology Initiative and the Climate Change Research Initiative. (Same language as HR 243)
Sponsor: Rep. Vernon Ehlers (R-MI)
H.R.243: Intelligent Transportation Systems Act, which authorizes the Department of Transportation to study the relationship between transportation, energy, and climate change, including strategies to reduce GHG emissions, and evaluate the potential effects of climate change on the nation’s transportation systems as part of the National Climate Change Technology Initiative and the Climate Change Research Initiative. (Provisions nearly identical to that of H.R.242)
Sponsor: Rep. Vernon Ehlers (R-MI)
H.R.722: Securing Transportation Energy Efficiency for Tomorrow Act, which, in a bill promoting climate-friendly transportation technologies, finds that the transportation sector is responsible for 27% of U.S. GHG emissions, with transportation-related emissions of CO2 increasing by 21% between 1992 and 2002.
Sponsor: Rep. James Oberstar (D-MN) (29 cosponsors)
H.R.3059: Alternative Fuel Utilization and Infrastructure Development Incentives Act, which, in a bill that promotes the use of blends of gasoline with a minimum 85 percent domestically derived ethanol content (E-85), find that recent studies confirm the environmental and overall energy security benefits of E-85.
Sponsor: Rep. Julia Carson (D-IN) (7 cosponsors)
H.R.3070: National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act, which, among other things, would authorize NASA to establish a zero-emissions aircraft research program to develop a hydrogen fuel cell-powered aircraft that would release no NOx emissions into the environment.
Sponsor: Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA) (1 cosponsor) – Action: 12/30/05: House and Senate approved the Senate version of the bill (S.1281), which became Public Law 109-155.
H.R.5372: Bioenergy Innovation, Optional Fuel Utilization, and Energy Legacy (BIOFUEL) Act, which would require that, by 2015, 20% of a ll light duty motor vehicle fuel (other than diesel fuel) sold in the United States be derived from renewable sources, and that all diesel fuel sold must contain at least 15% biodiesel. Additionally, the bill would require that, by 2013, 75 percent of all vehicles sold in the US be dual fueled, and that motor fuel retailers install E-85 fuel pumps once the flexible-fuel vehicle market penetration in a region reaches 15 percent. The bill also expresses the sense of Congress that carbon trading policies should be instituted to compensate farmers for their carbon sequestration activities.
Sponsor: Rep. Stephanie Herseth (D-SD) (61 cosponsors)
H.R.5375: New Options for Petroleum Energy Conservation Act, which would amend the IRS code to include tax credits for electricity produced from climate neutral combustion processes which would include capturing CO2 released during combustion and using that CO2 to recover hydrocarbon fuel from below ground, as well as producing no atmospheric emissions of mercury or GHGs and no emissions that form fine particles, smog, or acid rain. This bill would also extend the energy credit for solar energy property and energy efficient property.
Sponsor: Rep. Daniel Lungren (R-CA) (1 cosponsor)
H.R.5531: A bill which finds that hybrid vehicles produce fewer GHG emissions than conventional vehicles and would require the Federal government to acquire not fewer than 50,000 plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.
Sponsor: Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY)
H.R.5538: Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle Act, which would provide for a research and development program for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, requiring, among other things, that GHG emissions data be collected on the vehicles.
Sponsor: Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) (16 cosponsors)
H.R.5959: To Encourage Alternatively fueled vehicle Manufacturing (TEAM) up for Energy Independence Act, which would impose an excise tax on automobiles sold in the US that are not alternative fuel vehicles, defined as vehicles that use a fuel that with 80% fewer GHG emissions than vehicles using petroleum-derived fuel, calculated over the full fuel cycle.
Sponsor: Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA)
H.R.6025: Alternative Liquid Transportation Fuel Promotion Act, which would amend the Energy Policy Act by authorizing the Department of Energy to appropriate funds for coal-to-liquid facilities (including the carbon sequestration elements of such facilities).
Sponsor: Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-KY)
H.R.6249: To authorize the Secretary of Energy to make price floor loans to low-carbon coal-to-liquid fuel projects.
Sponsor: Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL) (1 cosponsor)