Political Quotes

“the Energy Policy Act that the Senate has been debating contains a number of strategies to reduce America's dependence on foreign oil and to improve the environment, but it does omit a key technology that can help this country achieve these critically important goals. That technology is the hybrid electric vehicle. The Senate has heard a lot about hybrids over the last few weeks, and, last week saw a poster of a red SUV--a hybrid vehicle that Ford is developing. Hybrids are coming of age. Anyone who has questions about their benefits can ask our colleague, Senator Bennett from Utah, who does in fact, drive a hybrid vehicle. These vehicles can achieve fuel efficiencies that are more than twice the current CAFE standard. Their greenhouse gas emissions are only one-third to one-half of those from conventional vehicles; and for other pollutants, such as nitrogen oxides, they can meet the country's highest emission standards, those set by the State of California. The overall energy efficiency of hybrid vehicles is more than double of any available alternative fuel vehicle. But the result of this country's current energy policy is that vehicles rated at even 70 miles per gallon are disqualified as counting toward energy efficiency fleet requirements just because they do not use alternative fuels. But, clearly, they more than fulfill the spirit of a modern energy policy that moves this country towards the critical goal of energy independence.”