[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 98 (Monday, June 18, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7807-S7808]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               DRIVE ACT

  Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I rise today in support of amendment 
No. 1572, the DRIVE Electric amendment. Senator Salazar is the sponsor. 
Senators Bayh, Brownback, Coleman, Klobuchar, Smith, Clinton, 
Alexander, Biden, and I are cosponsors.
  I know I speak for my fellow DRIVE Act cosponsors when I thank the 
members of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, led by 
Chairman Bingaman and Ranking Member Domenici, for reporting versions 
of DRIVE Act provisions out of that committee in May. And I know my 
fellow DRIVE Act cosponsors are as gratified as I am that Chairman 
Bingaman and 62 other Senators voted Tuesday to adopt the DRIVE Act's 
original oil savings requirement as part of this Energy bill.
  During the debate preceding Tuesday's vote, Senator Domenici said 
that Congress should not abdicate its responsibility to spell out the 
policies that the Federal Government will use to achieve the oil 
savings targets that now are part of this Energy bill. I could not 
agree more. That is why my DRIVE Act cosponsors are back here today to 
boost the Energy bill's transportation electrification provisions up to 
their original DRIVE Act strength.
  Once restored to its original strength, the DRIVE Act's 
electrification program will give the Federal Government a vital tool 
that will take this Nation a considerable distance toward the oil 
savings targets that the Senate adopted on Tuesday.
  Currently, our transportation sector runs on oil. That is the problem 
the Senate is trying to solve with this Energy bill. We are passing a 
law in order to move our transportation sector off of oil, in part by 
moving it onto alternative fuels. In expanding the use of various 
alternative fuels, we should not overlook our own existing electrical 
grid.
  Most electricity generation in this country is fueled by domestically 
mined coal. A substantial amount of electricity generation in this 
country is fueled by uranium mined in the United States or Canada. 
While only a small amount of electricity is generated in the U.S. using 
renewable sources such as solar and geothermal energy, we know we can 
increase that amount substantially. Only 2 percent of the electricity 
generated in this country is generated using oil.
  So the more that we use electricity to power our cars, trucks, 
trains, and ships, the more we will be using domestic energy sources, 
and the less dependent we will be on oil. Fortunately, the technology 
is now available to allow us to plug in our cars at night, when 
existing powerplants are underused and electricity is especially cheap, 
so that during the day, the cars run largely on battery power. And the 
technology is now available to allow trucks to plug in at truck stops--
and ships to plug in at ports--so that they don't use oil to run their 
on-board systems when they're stationary.
  The founder of a U.S. company called A123 testified before my global 
warming subcommittee in May about durable, safe, light-weight, high-
capacity batteries his company has developed for vehicle use. He is 
using that technology to convert hybrid vehicles into

[[Page S7808]]

plug-in hybrids today. He drives such a car every day. It gets 150 
miles to the gallon. The electricity that it takes to drive the vehicle 
40 miles costs about one-tenth as much as it costs to drive the same 
distance on gasoline. I understand that General Motors believes it can 
start selling such plug-in hybrid vehicles to American consumers within 
the next 2 years.
  At the same hearing in May, the head of global research at General 
Electric testified that the company had already developed a hybrid 
electric locomotive.
  Even if you count the pollution from the powerplants--including coal-
fired powerplants--used to charge a plug-in hybrid or fully electric 
vehicle, or to run an idling truck or ship, powering these vehicles 
with electricity releases far, far less pollution into the environment 
than powering them with oil does.
  The underlying bill contains some language to help accelerate the 
deployment of these electrification technologies in the transportation 
sector. The DRIVE Electric amendment would strengthen those provisions 
substantially. There is broad, bipartisan support here in the Senate 
for strengthening them. There is no reason not to strengthen them.
  Here is what the DRIVE Electric amendment would do: The DRIVE 
Electric amendment would expand the Advanced Transportation Technology 
Program in section 245 of H.R. 6 and augment the Energy Storage 
Competitiveness Program in section 244 of H.R. 6.
  More specifically, the DRIVE Electric amendment would expand the 
near-term vehicle technology deployment program in the underlying bill 
by adding a revolving loan program. This will maximize the 
effectiveness of the program in stimulating the installation of 
technologies to reduce petroleum use and cut emissions. In addition, 
the amendment sets forth types of projects--including port, truck stop 
and airport electrification--that will qualify for the program.
  The amendment includes a program to remove barriers for existing and 
new applications of electric drive and hybrid transportation 
technologies. It would establish an electricity usage program to 
increase the understanding of and management of the electricity grid as 
a source of power for the transportation sector.
  The amendment would also direct the Energy Department and the 
Environmental Protection Agency to develop information on the grid-side 
of electric drive technology. It would authorize grants for electric 
utilities to promote customer programs for load management and off-peak 
use.
  While the underlying bill would allow for basic and applied energy 
storage research, the DRIVE Electric amendment would establish an 
electric drive transportation research and development program. That 
program would address additional research needs, including: high 
efficiency on-board and off-board charging components; high power and 
energy-efficient drive-train systems for passenger and commercial 
vehicles and for nonroad vehicles; control system development and 
power-train development and integration; application of nano-materials 
technology, and use of smart vehicle and grid interconnection devices 
and software.
  The amendment also would direct the Energy Department to evaluate the 
benefits of plug-in electric drive technology, by creating testing 
programs to assess the full potential of benefits in terms of reducing 
criteria air pollutant emissions, energy use, and petroleum 
consumption.
  The amendment also would establish a nationwide education program for 
electric drive transportation technology, including financial 
assistance to create new university-level degree programs for needed 
engineers, supporting student plug-in hybrid electric vehicle 
competitions, and other educational efforts.
  Finally, the amendment would update the fleet acquisition program 
established under the Energy Policy Act of 1992 to assure that fleet 
operators subject to that law can choose electric drive transportation 
technologies, including hybrid electric vehicles, for compliance.
  I believe this amendment is exactly the kind of commonsense, win-win, 
bipartisan measure that the American people like to see coming out of 
Congress. I respectfully ask that my colleagues support the DRIVE 
Electric amendment.

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