LEGISLATIVE ACTION E-MAIL ALERT!!!!
Contact Congress Today
About the Open Fuel Standard Act
by Lisa Piraneo
ACT! for America Director of Government Relations
Unfortunately, we in America are addicted to oil. This addiction is not healthy for our economy or our national security, as we learned last summer when gas prices spiked to over $4.00 a gallon. Last year alone, the U.S. imported 4.7 billion barrels of oil and oil products. Of that amount, 1.3 billion barrels came from the Middle East and Venezuela – countries who are hostile to our nation and our democratic freedoms.
As members of ACT! for America, we fully understand the gravity of the situation. We understand that every dollar we spend on oil that we send to nations that fund Islamist terrorism or extremist Islamist education increases the threat to our national security.
Last year, oil provided more than 96% of the fuel for our cars and trucks. Today, for most Americans, there is simply no alternative to oil for their transportation needs – even if they want an alternative. H.R. 1476, the Open Fuel Standard Act, changes that. This bi-partisan, common-sense proposal would require 50% of new cars sold in the United States by 2012, and 80% by 2015, to be flex fuel vehicles, capable of burning any combination of gasoline, ethanol, or methanol.
Alternative fuels like ethanol and methanol can be produced from an abundance of products other than corn. Grass, weeds, even biodegradable trash, can all be converted to fuel. A flex fuel standard will produce the demand for these fuels, as manufacturers and retailers come to realize that, in just a few years, there will be millions of cars on the roads in America capable of running on alternative fuels. This is a classic “if you build it they will come” scenario.
Powerful people on both ends of the political spectrum – from President Obama to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich – have called for implementation of flex fuel technology. Flex fuel vehicles already exist and they only cost about $100 more than the same car in a gasoline-only version. It is a simple and inexpensive modification that should be standard in cars, like seatbelts or airbags.
This important legislative proposal is plain common sense, good for our economy, and good for our national security as it is a huge step in the direction of reducing our dependence on oil from nations that wish us harm. This legislation needs the support of all Members of Congress. Therefore, WE NEED YOUR HELP! Please read the details of this legislation below – AND WHAT WE NEED FROM YOU – and contact your Member of Congress right away!
If each of us does just a little, together we can accomplish a lot!
THE FOLLOWING 2 ACTIONS ARE WHAT WE NEED
FROM YOU, OUR ACT! FOR AMERICA GRASSROOTS ADVOCATE! - Please contact your Representative (in the U.S. House of Representatives) TODAY, via letter, e-mail or phone call, and ask him/her to sign on to H.R. 1476 as a COSPONSOR. If you learn that your Member of Congress is already a cosponsor – BE SURE TO SAY THANK YOU! Click here for contact information for your Representative.
- If your Member of Congress serves on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, please also request that H.R. 1476 be attached to the Waxman-Markey American Clean Energy Security Act, a larger energy bill that is scheduled to be voted on by the Committee in the immediate future. (For list of committee members, see below).
DETAILS OF LEGISLATION
Bill number:
| H.R. 1476
| Bill name:
| Open Fuel Standard Act of 2009
| Date introduced:
| March 12, 2009
| Sponsor:
| Representative Eliot Engel (D-17th/NY)
| Current Cosponsors:
| Representatives: Allyson Schwartz (D-PA); Bruce Braley (D-IA); Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD); Steve Israel (D-NY); John Barrow (D-GA); Bob Inglis (R-SC)
| Committee of Jurisdiction:
| House Committee on Energy and Commerce
| | Summary of Proposal: | Requires that auto manufacturers ensure that not less than 80 percent of automobiles manufactured or sold in the U.S. (by each manufacturer) operate on fuel mixtures containing 85 percent ethanol, 85 percent methanol, or biodiesel. |
THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP WITH THIS
IMPORTANT LEGISLATIVE PROPOSAL.
Members of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce
Members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee
Democrats (36)
Henry A. Waxman, 30th-CA (Chair)
John D. Dingell, 15th-MI
Edward J. Markey, 7th-MA
Rick Boucher – 9th-VA
Frank Pallone, Jr. – 6th-NJ
Bart Gordon, 6th-TN
Bobby L. Rush, 1st-IL
Anna G. Eshoo, 14th-CA
Bart Stupak, 1st-MI
Eliot Engel, 17th-NY
Gene Green, 29th-TX
Diana DeGette, 1st-CO
Lois Capps, 23rd-CA
Mike Doyle, 14th-PA
Jane Harman, 36th-CA
Janice D. Schakowsky, 9th-IL
Charles A. Gonzalez, 20th-TX
Jay Inslee, 1st-WA
Tammy Baldwin, 2nd-WI
Mike Ross, 4th-AR
Anthony Weiner, 9th-NY
Jim Matheson, 2nd-UT
G.K. Butterfield, 1st-NC
Charlie Melancon, 3rd-LA
John Barrow, 12th-GA
Baron Hill, 9th-IN
Doris O. Matsui, 5th-CA
Donna M. Christensen, VI
Kathy Castor, 11th-FL
John P. Sarbanes, 3rd-MD
Christopher S. Murphy, 5th-CT
Zack Space, 18th-OH
Jerry McNerney, 11th-CA
Betty Sutton, 13th-OH
Bruce L. Braley, 1st-IA
Peter Welch, At Large-VT | Republicans (23)
Joe Barton, 6th-TX, Rnk. Mem.
Ralph M. Hall, 4th-TX
Fred Upton, 6th-MI
Cliff Stearns, 6th-FL
Nathan Deal, 9th-GA
Ed Whitfield, 1st-KY
John Shimkus, 19th-IL
John B. Shadegg, 3rd-AZ
Roy Blunt, 7th-MO
Steve Buyer, 4th-IN
George Radanovich, 19th-CA
Joseph R. Pitts, 16th-PA
Mary Bono Mack, 45th-CA
Greg Walden, 2nd-OR
Lee Terry, 2nd-NE
Michael J. Rogers, 8th-MI
Sue Myrick, 9th-NC
John Sullivan, 1st-OK
Tim Murphy, 18th-PA
Michael C. Burgess, 26th-TX
Marsha Blackburn, 7th-TN
Phil Gingrey, 11th-GA
Steve Scalise, 1st-LA |
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