ACT for America

On Friday, June 26, 2009, U.S. House of Representatives passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES) of 2009 by a vote of 219 to 212. Unfortunately, the House decided NOT to include the language of the Open Fuel Standard Act, legislation which would have been a huge step toward severing our nation’s dependence on foreign oil.

Below are excerpts from a well-put Set America Free coalition message on what transpired and how it will affect our nation. ACT! for America is part of this coalition working to pass the Open Fuel Standard Act.

Please continue to follow this important issue on the ACT! for America website and continue to lend your voice whenever requested. Together we can free ourselves, our children, and our future generations from this particular tie to radical Islam.

(Excerpts from SetAmericaFree.org - Update to Friends)

The ACES bill…”stipulates that "new cars sold in the United States that are equipped with an internal combustion engine should allow for fuel competition by being flexible fuel vehicles, and new diesel cars should be capable of operating on biodiesel; and such an open fuel standard would help to protect the United States economy from high and volatile oil prices and from the threats caused by global instability, terrorism, and natural disaster."

Given these on point statements one would have expect the House to have included in ACES the full language of the Open Fuel Standard Act (HR1476) requiring that 50% of new cars be flexible-fuel or biodiesel warranted by 2012 and 80% by 2015. But the House did nothing of the sort.

If there was one provision that could have put America on the road to making oil just another commodity as opposed to a strategic one it was the Open Fuel Standard.

Ironically, Congress' failure to allow Americans fuel choice comes in the same month that America transitioned from analog to digital television broadcasts, ushering what could be described as an open standard for television. Consumers now have a choice between buying a digital set or signing up to cable or satellite service and keeping their old antenna by installing a signal-dumbing converter box which allows them to get an analog signal. As Gal Luft noted: "The same Congress that mandated consumer choice in television reception modes denies us choice in transportation fuels: our cars, trucks, ships and planes can run on nothing but petroleum. Strategic as Congress may imagine television is in our lives, it is not nearly as important as transportation."

The good news is that the Obama administration seems to be open to the idea of fuel choice at the pump. Energy Secretary Steven Chu said last week that all cars built in the US ought to be flex fuel.

The battle now shifts to the Senate and we hope that our senators fight for provisions that will serve to break oil's status as a strategic commodity. And if they need a reminder why this is so essential here it is: "OPEC, the supplier of 40 percent of the world's oil, will only consider increasing output when the price of crude rises to $100 a barrel, according to Kuwaiti Oil Minister Sheikh Ahmed al-Abdullah al-Sabah. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, due to meet again in September, wouldn't raise production with oil at $75, 'but if it reaches $100, maybe,' Sheikh Ahmed told reporters." How many times do we need to learn the same lesson before we act to break this cartel by breaking oil's virtual monopoly over transportation fuel? Flex fuel vehicles, including flex fuel plug in hybrids, are the means by which this can be done.”