This is actually big news, from a press release from Speaker Pelosi’s office tonight:
CAFE will serve as the cornerstone of the energy legislation that will be on the House floor next week. We will achieve the major goal of increasing vehicle efficiency standards to 35 miles per gallon in 2020, marking an historic advancement in our efforts in the Congress to address our energy security and laying strong groundwork for climate legislation next year. We are confident that this final product will win the support of the environmental, labor and manufacturing communities.
This landmark energy legislation will offer the automobile industry the certainty it needs, while offering flexibility to automakers and ensuring we keep American manufacturing jobs and continued domestic production of smaller vehicles.
There was concern that as long as Rep. Dingell (D-Auto) was chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee, a good CAFE standard would be hard to get. And by concern, I mean dread. And by hard to get, I mean that everyone assumed they’d be impossible to squeeze past him. Even though every voting demographic in his district supports higher mileage standards.
Consider it an early Yuletide miracle. Let’s hope it gets matched by another one, and this provision makes it into the Senate version and out of conference.
