"Energy Bill -- All Hype & No Substance"

Yesterday, President Bush signed into law an “Energy” Bill that will bring more fuel-efficient vehicles and require wider use of ethanol. Mr. Bush called it, “a step toward energy independence and easing global warming”.

The legislation increases the CAFE standard automakers must meet to 35 mpg for passenger cars, SUV’s and small trucks. The current standard is 27.5 mpg for car, and 22.2 mpg for SUV’s and light trucks.

Refineries will be required to increase the use of ethanol from about 6 billion gallons a year this year to 36 billion gallons by 2022 and mandates that by then at least 21 billion gallons are to come from sources other than corn.

Democrats have hailed the legislation as a turn to a new direction in U.S. energy policy.

Mr. Bush noted that bill failed to address the need for more nuclear energy and domestic oil production. Instead, the bill focuses largely on conservation, calling for more energy efficiency.

In reality, this is one of the most destructive bills ever enacted into law.

The current CAFÉ standards created small, relatively dangerous cars. Americans protested by purchasing SUV’s and pickup trucks in record numbers. Even thought the number of SUV’s and light trucks doubled, more than 2000 addition deaths per year were attributed to under sized automobiles created to meet the CAFÉ requirements.

With the new standards, cars will be even smaller and lighter. In addition, they have taken away the option to purchase a safer SUV or light truck. Estimates on the number of deaths that will result from ultra-light vehicles range from 6,000 to 10,000 per year. Where will those that trailer a boat or use other trailers turn for a tow vehicle?

In spite of claims to the contrary, experts do not believe that this legislation will result in any reduction in imported oil, but will instead, be very harmful to the economy of the U.S. and contribute to global hunger. Most experts, in fact, project major fuel shortages.

Let’s be perfectly clear, this legislation does nothing to reduce the number of coal burning power plants, nothing to increase the use of clean nuclear power, and it does not address the 40% of additional energy that will be required by 2015. It also does not address the problems associated with jet fuel.

The current demand for Ethanol based fuel has doubled the price of corn, decreased the supply of all food grains, and increased the cost of virtually all animal products including milk. This new bill triples the need for corn based Ethanol. Food prices will follow!

Major grain shortages are occurring world wide. These shortages are and will continue to be exacerbated by the use of grains for fuel.

All this legislation does is extend our dependence of OPEC another 20 years and delays any solutions well into the future while sacrificing 10,000’s of American lives at the alter of Environmentalism.

A simple program supporting the conversion of coal into natural gas and other clean burning synfuels would resolve all the above problems.

Furthermore, there are trillions of barrels of recoverable oil lying under U.S. soil just waiting for a Congress with the intelligence and guts to do the right thing.

If Congress had the will, we could be rid of OPEC in a matter of months.