Dianne Feinstein: “I rise today to offer a bill with my colleagues Senators Snowe, Corzine, Leahy, Cantwell, Collins, Durbin, Schumer and…”

“I rise today to offer a bill with my colleagues Senators Snowe, Corzine, Leahy, Cantwell, Collins, Durbin, Schumer and Jeffords to close the SUV loophole. This bill would increase Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards for SUVs and other light duty trucks. It would close the ``SUV Loophole'' and require that SUVs meet the same fuel efficiency standards as passenger cars by 2011. Crude oil prices remain above $50/barrel. On April 1, 2005, crude oil prices hit a record high of $57.70/barrel. Prices at the gas pump continue to soar as well. Today, the average price for regular gasoline was $2.24 per gallon. In California, the average price is almost $2.60. This is not a problem we can drill our way out of. Global oil demand is rising. China imports more than 40 percent of its record 6.4 million-barrel-per-day oil demand and its consumption is growing by 7.5 percent per year, seven times faster than the U.S. India imports approximately 70 percent of its oil, which is projected to rise to more than 90 percent by 2020. Their rapidly growing economies are fueling their growing dependence on oil--which makes continued higher prices inevitable. The most effective step we can take to reduce gas prices is to reduce demand. We must use our finite fuel supplies more wisely. This legislation is an important first step to limit our nation's dependence on oil and better protect our environment. If implemented, closing the SUV Loophole would: save the U.S.…”