|
United States
House of Representatives
Washington, DC
20510
Re: Close the Light Truck Loophole --
Vote "YES" on the Boehlert-Markey amendment to H.R.
4
Dear
Representative:
The League of
Conservation Voters (LCV) is the political voice of the
national environmental community. Each year, LCV
publishes the National Environmental
Scorecard, which details the voting records of
Members of Congress on environmental legislation.
The Scorecard is distributed to LCV members,
concerned voters nationwide, and the press.
LCV urges you to
oppose H.R. 4, the Securing America’s Future Energy Act
of 2001, in its current form. This legislation
would enact portions of the Bush energy plan, and would
harm the environment, threaten public health and fail to
help consumers. When this legislation reaches the
House floor, we urge you to support an amendment
sponsored by Representatives Boehlert (R-NY) and Markey
(D-MA) to close the light truck loophole that allows
SUVs and other light trucks to be held to a lower fuel
economy standard than cars. This vote presents the
first opportunity in 25 years for Representatives to
update the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE)
standards. Raising CAFE standards will save
consumers money at the gas pump, cut our dependence on
foreign oil, and curb global warming
pollution.
While cars are
currently required to meet a CAFE standard of 27.5 miles
per gallon (mpg), light trucks are held to a low
20.7-mpg standard. Light trucks now represent 47%
of new vehicles sold, and the average fuel economy of
new vehicles has sunk to its lowest level since
1980. The light truck loophole means we guzzle an
extra 18.4 billion gallons of gasoline per year, costing
consumers some $25.75 billion at the pump and emitting
an additional 220 million tons of global warming
pollution. A key first step in improving overall
fuel economy is to close the light truck loophole over 5
years by requiring that all minivans, pickups and SUVs,
including those up to 10,000 pounds, meet the same fuel
economy standards as cars. By early in the next
decade this step would by itself save 1 million barrels
of oil per day—three times the amount of oil that the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge would yield at peak
production.
The fuel
economy provision currently in H.R. 4 does next to
nothing to improve fuel economy, save oil or save
consumers money at the pump. It directs the
Department of Transportation to set a CAFE standard for
light trucks that will save at least 5 billion gallons
of gasoline between model years 2004-2010; although this
sounds significant, it amounts to saving only one day’s
worth of oil per year. Increasing light truck fuel
economy by less than 1 mpg from its current low of 20.7
mpg would save the same amount of oil.
We urge you
to vote for the Boehlert-Markey amendment to close the
light truck loophole. We also urge you to
support amendments to the bill that would protect the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and other sensitive
public lands from the harmful impact of oil and gas
drilling, increase funding for renewable energy and
energy efficiency programs, and cut billions in
subsidies which would increase air and global warming
pollution and radioactive waste production. LCV's
Political Advisory Committee will consider including
votes on this issue in compiling LCV's 2001
Scorecard. If you need more information, please
call Betsy Loyless in my office at (202)
785-8683.
Sincerely,
Deb Callahan
President | 
.gif){kind=spacer}
