bold added for emphasis :)
Fuels for America's Future
exxon.com
Remarks by James J. Rouse
Vice President -- Washington Office, Exxon Corporation
Today, I want to tell you about an issue under discussion in this country that many people may not know about.
This issue is vitally important to all Americans, since it has to do
with how we'll meet our energy needs in the years ahead. How this issue is resolved will affect you, our economy, our environment, and even the way we live.
Since 1970, a number of laws and regulations have been developed to improve the quality of the air we breathe. These rules have been aimed at reducing air emissions from stationary sources, such as factories and manufacturing plants -- and mobile sources, such as cars and trucks.
Significant investments have been made to reduce these emissions, and there's been good progress in cleaning up the air.
As the nation seeks to make further improvements, it's especially
important that we do so in the most cost-effective way, using the
results of sound scientific analysis.........
..... Government Mandates and Subsidies For Alternative Fuels
And that brings us to the third broad issue for your consideration
-- the matter of government support for alternative fuels through
mandates and subsidies.
"Alternative fuels" include liquefied petroleum gas, compressed natural gas, liquefied natural gas, methanol, ethanol, and electricity.
The Energy Policy Act of 1992 requires federal, state, and some private fleets to purchase vehicles that run on such fuels.
It also sets a goal of replacing 10 percent of the nation's petroleum motor fuels with alternatives by the year 2000. That goal rises to 30 percent by the year 2010.
Despite its excellent emissions performance, and its ability to meet
emissions standards, reformulated gasoline is not considered an alternative fuel, simply because it's made from oil.
Thus, on the one hand, to comply with the Clean Air Act, refiners
have been making huge investments -- as much as $10 billion by some estimates -- to manufacture reformulated gasoline.
On the other hand, the Energy Policy Act takes away part of the market for the new fuel and undermines those investments.
Today, the federal government promotes alternative fuel use through subsidies and outright mandates. These federal subsidies are estimated to currently exceed $1 billion annually. On top of that, many states have similar policies. |
