Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS -- (Senate - January 24, 2005)
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
By Mr. TALENT:
S. 129. A bill to amend title 23, United States Code, to provide for HOV facilities; to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
Mr. TALENT. Mr. President, I am pleased to be introducing this bill, which will allow more owners of hybrid electric vehicles, or HEVs, to have access to HOV lanes on Federal highways. For all of us who have a desire to lessen our dependence on foreign oil and encourage the use of renewable energy, this bill represents a step forward towards achieving those goals.
The language that is currently in the highway bills passed by the House and the Senate allows hybrid vehicles that achieve a 45 mile-per-gallon fuel economy highway rating to use HOV lanes. Any hybrid that achieves that kind of fuel economy certainly deserves to get that status, because it is a very impressive fuel economy rating and represents a substantial improvement over non-hybrid vehicles. What the 45 mile-per-gallon standard fails to take into account, however, is that many larger hybrid vehicles achieve a much larger fuel economy improvement over their internal combustion engine counterparts, and thus save more energy, than smaller vehicles which manage to meet the standard but are a less drastic improvement over their non-hybrid counterparts.
To illustrate this, take the 2005 model Honda Civic HEV, which gets just over 45 miles-per-gallon. This represents less than a 40 percent improvement over the comparable internal combustion model. The 2005 Ford Escape HEV, on the other hand, is a truck, so it gets fewer miles per gallon than a Civic, between 35 and 40. However, this is a 75 percent improvement over its internal combustion engine counterpart, and in addition, the Escape HEV emits 3-4 tons fewer greenhouse gases every year than the non-hybrid.
There is no reason to discriminate against these larger, American-made hybrids like the Ford Escape. They are truly engineering marvels and are so clearly beneficial for the environment. The bill that I have sponsored will give States the discretion to open up their HOV lanes to hybrid vehicles that achieve a substantial increase in fuel economy relative to comparable gasoline vehicles, or achieve a substantial increase in lifetime fuel savings relative to comparable gasoline vehicles. It creates a minimum standard of improvement necessary for hybrids, but gives States the option of increasing the requirements. This bill also allows States to open HOV lanes to single occupancy advanced lean burn vehicles that achieve at least a 25 percent increase in fuel economy relative to comparable gasoline vehicles and that are certified to Clean Air Act Tier 2 standards.
I am hopeful that my colleagues on both sides of the aisle can agree that we should do all we can to encourage the use of renewable energy in our country, and hybrid vehicles are an important part of that. The people who drive these vehicles are doing their part to help clean up the air and increase energy conservation, and we should give more people an incentive to buy these vehicles by giving them access to HOV lanes.
I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the RECORD.
There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows:
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
http://thomas.loc.gov