"For all of our military might and economic dominance, the Achilles' heel
of the most powerful country on Earth is still the oil we cannot live
without," said Obama. "I could give you all plenty of reasons why it's a
good idea for this country to move away from an oil-based economy, but all
we really need to know about the danger of our oil addiction comes
directly from words spoken by Osama bin Laden: 'Focus your operations on
oil, especially in Iraq and the Gulf area, since this will cause them to
die off [on their own].'"
Obama and Lugar's bipartisan legislation, the American Fuels Act of 2006
(S. 2446), would take a four-step approach to reducing America's
dependence on foreign oil. First, the legislation would spur investment in
alternative fuels by increasing the production of cellulosic biomass
ethanol (CBE) to 250 million gallons by 2012. It would also create an
Alternative Diesel Standard that will require 2 billion gallons of
biodiesel to be mixed into the 40 billion gallon annual national diesel
pool by 2015. This proposal is modeled on the Renewable Fuels Standard,
which has proved successful in increasing ethanol production and use.
Second, the legislation would help increase consumer demand for renewable
fuels by providing a short-term, 35 cents per gallon tax credit for E85
fuel and by providing automakers with a $100 tax credit for every
E85-capable Flexible Fuel Vehicle (FFV) produced.
Third, it would require the U.S. government to lead by example and to
increase access to renewable fuels by allowing public access to fueling
stations located on federal government property and by requiring that only
clean buses be eligible for federal cost sharing. It would also create
establish a Department of Defense "fly-off competition" that would
encourage private sector companies to compete to find the most
energy-efficient alternatives fuels for defense purposes.
Finally, the legislation would create a Director of Energy Security to
oversee and keep America focused on its goal of energy independence. The
Director of Energy Security would serve as the principal advisor to the
President, the National Security Council, the National Economic Council
and the Homeland Security Council.
"This bill will help tilt our energy balance toward alternative fuels,
moving these fuels into additional markets and making them more widely
available for consumers," said Lugar. "We believe that U.S. national
security will be served by more robust coordination of all the elements
that contribute to energy security. Our policies should be targeted to
replace hydrocarbons with carbohydrates. Obviously this is not a
short-term proposition, but we can offset a significant portion of demand
for oil by giving American consumers a real choice of automotive fuel. We
must end oil's near-monopoly on the transportation sector, which accounts
for 60 percent of American oil consumption."
Senator Obama said that while the reforms he and Senator Lugar have
proposed will require sacrifice, they are attainable if America truly
commits to the goal of energy independence.
"The President was absolutely correct when he said America is addicted to
oil, but we can't continue to settle for piecemeal, bite-sized solutions
to our energy crisis," said Obama. "We need a national commitment to
energy security. Now is the time for serious leadership to get us started
down the path of energy independence. The ideas Senator Lugar and I have
proposed are bipartisan and common-sense and would take an enormous step
towards energy independence."
Senator Richard Lugar is Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee. Senator Obama is also a member of the Foreign Relations
Committee as well as the Environment and Public Works Committee.