[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 9 (Tuesday, January 31, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E33-E34]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       INTRODUCTION OF THE FUEL SECURITY AND CONSUMER CHOICE ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. EDWARD J. MARKEY

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 31, 2006

  Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Speaker, we have an opportunity to change 
fundamentally the relationship of the United States to energy in a way 
that helps the consumer, reduces pollution, reduces greenhouse gases, 
and reduces the need to use military force to protect oil fields in 
countries thousands of miles from our shores. Nearly 70 percent of all 
the oil we use is consumed by the transportation sector, so we must 
look for alternatives to imported oil for fueling our cars and trucks. 
Today, advances in the production of ethanol--the refining of starch, 
sugar and cellulose into auto fuel--have reached the point where we 
have an opportunity to make a huge difference in opening up the market 
for alternatives to gasoline. Now is the time to be bold.

[[Page E34]]

  The powerful promise of ethanol to dramatically reduce foreign oil 
imports has just been demonstrated by Brazil. As a result of its 
ethanol production and technological development, Brazil has cut its 
dependence on foreign oil from about 80 percent in the 1970's to nearly 
zero today--despite being the 10th largest energy consumer in the 
world. Ethanol now accounts for 20 percent of Brazil's transportation 
fuel--we should be able to do that here.
  The ethanol that the U.S. currently produces--3.4 billion gallons in 
2004, or the equivalent of 250,000 barrels of oil a day--is made from 
corn. Producing ethanol from corn has been tremendously successful in 
the Midwest and now we must look to replicate that success all across 
the country, even in places where corn doesn't grow. There is great 
potential in ethanol refined from sources of cellulose, which are 
abundant and widely available in every corner of America. Experts tell 
us that biomass as diverse as switchgrass, sawgrass, tree bark, or 
wastes such as sawdust, paper pulp or sugar cane waste could now be 
turned into ethanol. Cellulosic ethanol holds incredible potential--by 
many estimates, the ability to replace 1-2 million barrels of oil a day 
or nearly the amount of oil that we consume from the Middle East.
  But cellulosic ethanol can be derived not just from new crops grown 
in the farm belt, but also the waste streams of every city and village 
in urban and suburban America. Right now this surplus cellulose is 
being trucked to a landfill at great cost. But this so-called ``waste 
stream'' is actually the potential backbone of an alternative auto 
fuel. Turning cellulosic waste into ethanol would also have the virtue 
of helping to relieve the immense pressure in urban areas on landfills 
while also producing a protein rich animal food.
  We need to make ethanol a national program here as Brazil has done. 
Right now ethanol is a boutique fuel for the Midwest that is not widely 
used in the urban areas or our coasts because the costs of transporting 
it there make it uneconomic. We need to give every region of our 
country an ability to produce and use ethanol. We need to give every 
sector of industry a stake in developing ethanol from the byproducts 
produced at plants in urban areas.
  Right now, there are nearly five million vehicles already on the road 
in the U.S. that are capable of running on E85, a fuel mix that is 85 
percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. Recently, automakers such as 
Ford and GM have announced plans to ramp up production of flexfuel 
vehicles, planning to produce a combined 650,000 such vehicles in 2006. 
Making vehicles that are capable of running on 85 percent ethanol is 
also not significantly more expensive than making cars that run on gas 
only. Right now, vehicles that have flex-fuel models retail for the 
same prices as their gas-only counterparts.
  Today, I am introducing the ``Fuel Security and Consumer Choice 
Act''--legislation mandating that within 10 years all cars, trucks and 
SUV's sold in the United States be flex-fuel vehicles, capable of 
running on gasoline, ethanol or a combination of both. This legislation 
would also gradually phase out the so-called ``dual fuels loophole'' 
over a 4 year period--expiring roughly around the year 2010, when the 
credit is currently set to expire under the Energy Bill passed last 
year. This phase out will ensure that as we move forward as a Nation 
towards using these new fuels, we do not inadvertently move backwards 
in overall fuel economy standards for our Nation's fleet of cars, 
trucks and SUVs.
  Mandating that U.S. cars be capable of running on ethanol will spur 
the development of these new cellulosic ethanols and improve technology 
for producing ethanol from corn. We are a technological giant and we 
must develop fuels for the future for our transportation sector if we 
ever want to replace our dependence on oil, reduce greenhouse gas 
emissions and provide relief to American consumers from high gas and 
energy prices.

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