The House of Representatives Set Higher Goals for Fuel Efficiency.

The House of Representatives passed an energy bill on the 6th that had many mandates for fuel efficiency. There is set to be a 40% increase in the fuel efficiency of cars and light trucks sold in the United States, and by 2020 vehicles sold in the united states should have a flat average of 35 miles per gallon. There was also a call for a $21 billion dollar tax increase mostly affecting oil companies, and a mandate declaring that electric utilities must use natural energy such as solar or wind to produce 15% of their power. The supporters of the bill say that it will decrease the United State's dependence on foreign oil, jump-start the development of clean-energy, and begin to cut the United State's carbon emissions. But the likely hood of this bill being signed into a law without drastic changes is very small. The President has already threatened to veto the bill, and it is very unlikely the Senate will pass the bill without altering many of its provisions. The bill also calls for an increase in ethanol and biofuel production from 5 billion gallons a year to 36 billion gallons a year which I do not completely agree with. The main component of biofuel in the United States is corn. Which feeds much of the live stock as well as many people. Biofuel can be made from almost any type of plant so I think that if biofuel is made, it should not be derived from a food source base, especially with world hunger today. Also the gathering and processing of the corn produces almost as much carbon dioxide , as the biofuel would benefit. I believe the biofuel industry should be further researched before the government forces it to be mainstreamed.