Ros-Lehtinen Introduces Fuel Choice for American Prosperity and Security Act

Press Release

U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), along with her colleagues, U.S. Reps. Tom Cole (R-OK) and Matt Salmon (R-AZ), introduced the Fuel Choice for American Security and Prosperity Act (FCAPS), a bill that would provide automakers the option of reducing their CAFE obligation by four miles per gallon if half or more of the vehicles they manufacture in a model year are warranted to operate on any technology in addition to or instead of petroleum-based fuel.

Statement by Ros-Lehtinen:

"Fuel competition in our transportation sector will improve U.S. energy and national security, increase our foreign policy flexibility, spur economic growth, and lower fuel prices. By providing more options at the pump, we can dampen the impact of oil price volatility and reduce the leverage of oil rich governments and rogue regimes that are unstable, repressive, or hostile to the United States and who use oil as a weapon to undermine U.S. foreign policy efforts. Fuel choice will also allow the American economy to capitalize on our plentiful domestic resources, create jobs, and encourage innovation, all while driving down the price of fuel.

"By providing automakers the option of rolling back costly fuel economy regulations, we are incentivizing a technologically neutral, free market competition for transportation fuels without government mandate and without picking winners and losers. I am proud to introduce the Fuel Choice for American Security and Prosperity Act with my colleagues Tom and Matt and look forward to working with the rest of the House to move this important bill forward."

Statement by Cole:

"I am pleased to join my colleagues in introducing legislation that allows consumers to choose the most cost-effective fueling option at the pump. By encouraging automakers to manufacture cars that operate on a variety of fuels, this allows them to not only meet the necessary CAFE regulations but also be more competitive in the process. Certainly, this legislation helps consumers and automakers alike."

Statement by Salmon:

"By incentivizing American auto companies to make better use of our abundant, domestic energy resources, we offer them the opportunity to be a part of the "all-the-above" solution to our national energy and security needs."

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