Proposal for an Energy Policy Change that Brings Real Results

This county needs to make changes beyond CAFE.
A real solution requires 4 groups to be involved: Congress, the energy companies, business/industry, and the Public. Without all four, it is not a complete solution. CAFE is only Congress and the auto companies. This is not a complete solution.
My Proposal for Congress's consideration:
Assumptions about what is important:
a) Reduce dependency on foreign oil by using less,
b) Encourage use of alternative forms of energy in the transportation sector
c) Keep America growing and moving forward
d) Reduce impact on our environment caused by burning fossil fuels.

Part 1 – Congress
a.) Make E20 the standard fuel (Sen. John Thume (S.D.) is proposing this)
b.) Enforce Alternative Fuel Vehicle (AFV) initiatives to Fleets per EPAct 1992 and 2005. Eliminate the E85 fuel economy credits to auto companies and base it on the amount of E85 that is used. Flex Fuel Vehicles are no longer automatically AFV’s, but are counted based on the amount or percentage of alternative fuel used (100% alternative fuel = 1 credit; 10% used = 0.1 credits).
c.) Allow street legal electric Low Speed Vehicles to count as AFV’s where they are bought to replace a standard cars or trucks or are bought to do the duties of a standard cars or trucks. These are early electric vehicles available today and need your encouragement.
d.) Reinstate the Electric Vehicle tax credit. Encourage electric vehicles in addition to plug-in hybrids.

Part 2 – Energy Companies
a.) Mandatory E20 as the “standard” gas – 20% minimum amount of ethanol in gasoline. This is an immediate reduction of 20% in oil both foreign and domestic.
b.) Will also eliminates need for standard and mid-grade gasoline since ethanol increases octane. E20 is compatible with premium gas with octane of 91+ and could be piped through pipelines because one fuel fits all needs. This results in significant delivered cost reductions.
Gasoline today is moving towards 10% (E10) to eliminate other octane enhancers that are not environmentally healthy (MTBE). E85 can be blended from E20 but people will not buy it as long as standard gas is available. With E85 the loss of fuel economy approaches 20% and unless E85 is 20%+ lower in cost, it is not cost effective to use. Today is it not that much lower than standard gas. This is why no one is buying it.

Part 3 – Business and Industry
a) Auto companies – make necessary changes to use E20 and for Flex Fuel Vehicles to use E85. CAFE credit change is eliminated in Alternative Motor Fuels Act 2005 which will cause manufacturers to improve fuel economy. Parts 1 & 4 reduce gas consumption far more than any CAFE change.
b) All Fleets, with 20 or more vehicles must meet EPAct 1992 standards for AFV purchased as new or replacement vehicles (Federal, State, municipal, and commercial fleets must meet the intent of EPAct 1992; this is 75-90% AFV purchases.)
c) Industrial Fleets – encourage alternative fuel vehicles that reduce oil consumed. This means credit for Flex Fuel vehicles only to the extent they can demonstrate by percentage of alternative fuel used. Allow electric Low Speed Vehicles to be used as AFV’s, to encourage more electric vehicle products.

Part 4 Public
a) Mandatory maximum speed limit drops from 65 or 70mph to 55 mph. This is estimated to result in a 10% - 17% drop in fuel consumed in all vehicles on the road (250,000,000 registered vehicles)
b) The effect is immediate and occurs on all vehicles operating on public roads.
c) Benefits are significant since cost of driving drops 17% in fuel costs, safety at lower speeds improves, and less gas burned means less emissions.

Lastly, I would still suggest that Congress talk about increasing the tax on petroleum products. I have sent my JEDI Fund proposal many times before.