Hybrid Car Review

The new bill (I've seen the draft attributed to two different Reps: Rep Rick Boucher, D-Va or Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn) regarding greenhouse gas emission reductions on capitol hill has undergone even further changes. The latest twist: take the decisions out of the states hands and leave it with the EPA.

The latest draft bill would prohibit the head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from issuing a waiver to states allowing them to impose their own auto pollution standards.

Calfornia has been fighting to impose its own emissions laws on automakers. They want to reduce CO2 by 25% for cars and 18% for SUVs for the 2009 model year. Oregon, Washington, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont have all stated they would follow suit if California wins. For obvious reasons, automakers have been fighting back.

Other provisions included in the bill:
- Expansion of alternative fuels to 35 billion gallons a year by 2025.
- 36 miles per gallon for passenger cars by 2021 and 30 mpg for trucks by 2024. It also calls for the Transportation Department to set the "maximum feasible" level starting in September 2011.
- 45 percent of their fleet flexible-fuel capable by the 2012 model year. 85 percent of the fleet must be capable of running on ethanol blends by 2020.
- Federal loan guarantees to automakers for advanced battery research
- Grant program for Detroit automakers to retool factories to build advanced vehicles. The measure gives priority to plants that have or will cease operations soon.
- $1 billion for cellulosic ethanol research and incentives to get more flexible fuel pumps in place.

Sources: Bill would block states on auto rules - Yahoo! News and Fuel economy hike backed