Senator
U.S. Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510

RE: Support S. 2747 to improve our national, economic and environmental security

Dear Senator ,

I strongly urge you to support S. 2747, the Enhanced Energy Security Act of 2006, bipartisan legislation that by raising Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards will tremendously improve our national, economic and environmental security.

Rising fuel prices at the pump are affecting how and where we travel and the price of groceries and other goods we buy that are transported from far away. However, the high fuel prices are merely a symptom of a more harmful disease—U.S. oil addiction. The price of our addiction is far greater than the price we pay at the pump. The full price also includes the cost of war; the costs of deploying U.S. military forces in the Persian Gulf and elsewhere to protect the oil sea lanes; the domestic, environmental, and public health costs due to air pollution from internal combustion engines; and the as yet untold costs of potentially harmful climate change due to the burning of fossil fuels. That’s too high a price.

It’s time to kick this costly, dangerous, unhealthy habit. Increasing CAFE standards for new vehicles is a proven way to help do this. Thanks to the standards Congress set during the oil crisis in 1975, the National Research Council estimates that today the U.S. is consuming about 2.8 million barrels of oil per day less than it would be consuming without the standards. Today, with existing, affordable technology, the U.S. could reduce its oil dependence much more.

S. 2747 requires the Secretary of Transportation to implement a program for manufacturers to meet the 35-mpg standard by the year 2017, an increase of 10 mpg in 10 years. It provides safeguards to ensure that improvements to fuel economy standards maximize the retention of jobs in the automobile manufacturing sector of the United States, and does not degrade vehicle safety. It also establishes a credit-trading program for automobile manufacturers so that if one manufacturer does not meet the CAFE standard of 35 mpg by 2017, it can purchase credits from other auto manufacturers that are able to meet that standard. The bill would also authorize the Secretary to establish separate standards for different classes of vehicles according to size, as long as the overall average for the manufacturer’s entire fleet of cars meets 35 mpg. It would save 420 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions by 2025.

Although I strongly urge you to support S. 2747, I am concerned that this legislation does not go far enough given the many security, economic, and environmental challenges posed by U.S. oil dependence. The EU has set a goal of over 44 mpg by 2008 for new vehicles, including light trucks, up from 37 mpg in 2002; and Japan has set a goal of 48 mpg by 2010, up from 46 mpg in 2002. If the Europeans and Japanese can accomplish these goals, Americans can too. So I urge that while you support this legislation, you also demand that we raise the bar and increase CAFE standards even further.

Most Sincerely,