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CLEAN CAR CAMPAIGN UPDATE

Federal and State Legislation: Green Lights and Detours on the Way to Cleaner Cars

Senate Fails to Promote Fuel Economy Improvement
Senate Passes Thoughtful Tax Credit for Greener Advanced
Technology Vehicles
Maine Addresses Mercury Threat From Vehicles

FUEL ECONOMY STANDARDS STALL

The U.S. Senate passed an Energy Bill in April that would effectively do nothing about fleetwide fuel economy - now at a 20 year low -- by rejecting meaningful, achievable increases in fuel economy standards. Instead, an amendment sponsored by Senators Carl Levin (D-MI) and Kit Bond (R-MO) refers the issue to the Department of Transportation, which already had the authority to address standards for light trucks. The Senate bill actually makes it more difficult for regulators to act by raising procedural hurdles and exempting pick-up trucks from any future fuel economy improvements. The Senate's stance on this issue was a loss for the environment and for our energy security. (link to UCS press release) The House of Representatives took a similarly unhelpful stance when it passed its own energy package last summer.

TAX CREDITS FOR HYBRIDS & OTHER GREEN VEHICLES

A bright spot in an otherwise troublesome Senate energy package was passage of consumer tax credits for advanced technology vehicles that meet stringent environmental performance standards. The Clean Car Campaign and allies worked to ensure that this provision ties credits to the degree of oil savings and clean air benefits. Hybrid-electric, fuel cell, battery-electric, and alternative fuel vehicles all will be eligible for credits if this provision is signed into law. The House of Representatives passed a related provision, but it was laden with amendments that undermined the environmental intentions of the measure. We will let you know in the coming months if there are opportunities for you to help ensure that the positive Senate version takes precedence over the unhelpful House counterpart as Congress works to reconcile their respective energy packages.

MAINE ADDRESSES MERCURY THREAT FROM VEHICLES

Also in April, the State of Maine passed a landmark law holding automakers responsible for recovering mercury that they put in their vehicles. Domestic automakers have used mercury in convenience lighting switches for years despite the availability of cheap and functional alternatives, and their own acknowledgements that mercury use in vehicles is an environmental health problem that they need to address.

Mercury poses a great risk of developmental problems, especially for fetuses and small children. A gram of mercury (the amount in a single mercury switch) can contaminate a twenty-acre lake. The Maine law requires automakers to take financial responsibility for the recovery of mercury switches to keep them out of the environment, and to cease selling vehicles with mercury in them. This is an important precedent that automakers cannot make design decisions that harm children's health, and then walk away from the consequences. Many other states are considering following Maine's lead.