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Non-Tech : Alternative energy -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: gg cox who wrote (4104)	12/8/2007 8:02:38 PM
From: Rock_nj	Respond to of 16955

Senate Blocks Energy Bill By JOHN M. BRODER WASHINGTON, Dec. 7 — Brushing aside a veto threat from the White House, the House passed a package of energy measures on Thursday that includes a 40 percent increase in fuel economy standards for cars and light trucks sold in the United States. But the measure stalled today in the Senate, as expected. The bill’s supporters say it will reduce the nation’s dependence on imported oil, jump-start development of clean-energy technologies and sharply reduce the nation’s production of heat-trapping gases like carbon dioxide. But the complex and costly bill faces the prospect of a radical rewrite in the Senate because of opposition there to two provisions: $21 billion in new taxes, mostly on the oil industry, and a mandate that electric utilities must generate 15 percent of their power from alternative sources, like wind or solar. The White House threatened to veto the bill if the final version contains those or several other provisions passed by the House. The House vote was 235 to 181, with 14 Republicans voting for it and 7 Democrats voting against. But the measure was blocked in the Senate this morning, as it attracted 53 “yes” votes — 7 short of the number needed to advance it. Forty-two senators voted against it. Environmental groups, consumer advocates and alternative-energy companies have hailed the bill, but a broad array of opponents, including cattlemen, coal producers and multinational oil companies, are lining up to block it. The centerpiece of the bill is a requirement that passenger vehicles sold in the United States achieve a fleet average of 35 miles per gallon by 2020, the first significant increase in mileage standards since 1975. The provision was a result of a deal brokered by Representative John D. Dingell, the Michigan Democrat who has long protected the domestic automakers’ interests in Washington. nytimes.com