Thank Sens. Wellstone & Dayton 
for their Energy Votes

Monday, March 13, just 6 months after the tragedy of September 11, the Senate passed an extremely bad amendment to the energy bill, essentially stripping Congress of authority to set fuel efficiency standards for cars and light trucks, known as CAFE standards and destroying hope for energy independence.  Authority to set CAFE standards now rests with a federal transportation agency rife with former auto industry executives.

Raising the CAFE standard would have saved more oil, following full implementation, than we could possibly produce by drilling in ANWR and that we currently import from the Middle East ... COMBINED !!! More on Clean Cars ... More on Energy ... More on CAFE Standards.

Despite intense pressure from Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI), our Senators, Paul Wellstone and Mark Dayton, stood strong and opposed this and other bad amendments.  It is likely that Wellstone will be "punished" by the oil and auto industries, on behalf of the Republican party, with "issue ads" accusing him of trying to "take away our SUVs".

Please call Sens. Wellstone and Dayton and thank them for their votes against this bad amendment.  Then, please take a moment to write a letter to the editor of your local paper thanking them publicly.  Don't let the auto and oil industry manipulate the public with their lies. Sens. Wellstone and Dayton voted for our future.  They deserve our thanks and support.

To call:

Sen. Wellstone - 651-645-0323 (St. Paul), 218-741-1074 (Virginia, MN), 320-231-0001 (Willmar, MN)  or  202-224-5641 (D.C.)  [or you can email him from his website at http://www.wellstone.senate.gov/]

Sen. Dayton - 612-727-5220 (Ft. Snelling, MN) or 202-224-3244 (D.C.) [or you can email him from his website at   www.dayton.senate.gov ]

Sample letter to the editor (please use your own words):

Dear Editor:

Congress has again placed the demands of the oil and auto industry lobbyists above the best interest of the country.  Rather than  reduce our reliance on foreign oil by improving vehicle fuel efficiency, they passed an amendment prohibiting Congress from setting fuel efficiency standards.

We have the technology right now to make it both safe and fuel efficient. We can have cars and trucks, while still having cleaner air and a safer future for our children.  We can also reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Simply raising the average gas mileage to 35 miles per gallon will cut fuel imports by 1 million gallons per day.

I'm proud that our senators, Paul Wellstone and Mark Dayton, didn't go along with the special interests.  They voted for the people of Minnesota, not the lobbyists and their lies.

Sincerely,

Your name, address and phone number

Page Last Update July 31, 2002