William Tauzin: “It has been argued that the bill is silent on CAFE. Not so. The bill calls for a study to actually replace CAFE, just as…”

“It has been argued that the bill is silent on CAFE. Not so. The bill calls for a study to actually replace CAFE, just as NHTSA is recommending that we study CAFE from top to bottom. Do we know why? Because it has awful, perverse effects. One time GM came up with a new SUV that was much more fuel efficient than its old model, and it suffered, it got penalized under CAFE. Why? Because more Americans wanted that vehicle, and it upset their average. That is how perverse the system sometimes works. We call for revamping that system. Secondly, last year we improved the CAFE standards for SUVs, an amendment that the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Dingell) and I took through the conference committee and has now been implemented into law. I think because it has been implemented, I am having a harder time getting the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Dingell) to support the rest of this bill, but it is well on its way to saving fuel for the American economy. But the bill goes further. It provides $1.7 billion for the hydrogen fuel car, for the FreedomCar initiative, for new hybrids and alternative fuels, and it provides for the implementation of the President's hydrogen car infrastructure, a dramatic improvement in fuel efficiency when the hydrogen fuel car hits the market. The amendment gives us lighter cars and smaller cars and more traffic deaths. The bill takes us on the path to new fuels, new efficiencies, new technologies.”