ENERGY POLICY

As we move forward with a national energy policy, we need to ensure that we support policies that will decrease our dependence on foreign oil, reduce climate change emissions, and protect our national energy security but at the same time promote renewable energy sources, environmentally responsible domestic production, and tax incentives for energy efficiency and advanced automobile technology.

Senator Levin believes that we need a long-term comprehensive energy plan for this country and has long supported initiatives that will increase our domestic energy supplies in a responsible manner and provide consumers with affordable and reliable energy.

The Senate passed comprehensive energy legislation in July 2005 and again in December 2007, both of which Senator Levin supported. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 included provisions that will increase the diversity of our nation's fuel supply, encourage investment in infrastructure and alternative energy technologies, increase domestic energy production, take steps to improve the reliability of our electricity supply, and improve energy efficiency and conservation. While the final conference report was far from perfect, on balance it moved toward a sounder energy policy and greater energy security and efficiency for the United States.

Senator Levin also supported passage of legislation in 2006 to increase the supply of natural gas in the United States. Tight natural gas supply and the increasing costs of natural gas over the last six years have had a significant impact on consumers and on U.S. manufacturing. U.S. natural gas prices have been the highest in the industrialized world, resulting in both high costs for consumers and unbearable costs for U.S. manufacturers that have forced companies to move manufacturing operations offshore. More than two million manufacturing jobs have been lost to overseas operations in the last five years. Increasing our natural gas supply in the United States will help to stem that tide.

In 2007, Congress adopted the Energy Independence and Security Act, which contains several measures that will help to lower our dependence on oil, enhance our national security, and protect our environment. The legislation contained an ambitious increase in fuel economy standards for cars and light trucks, requiring auto manufacturers to achieve 35 miles per gallon by 2020, which Senator Levin supported as a significant improvement over provisions adopted by the Senate in June 2007 that would have had a detrimental effect on U.S. manufacturers and auto workers.

The legislation also included an increase in the renewable fuels standard to provide for the production of 36 billion gallons of biofuels and advanced renewable fuels by 2022, which will help decrease our demand for oil and reduce the harmful impact of greenhouse gases on our environment. The 2007 law also established important new energy efficiency standards for a range of residential appliances, including dishwashers, clothes washers, and refrigerators and new efficiency standards for light bulbs, which are expected to eliminate roughly 13 million excess metric tons of carbon dioxide emitted by older, incandescent light bulbs.

Energy Conservation

Over the past 30 years, largely due to conservation measures, energy consumption per capita has remained flat despite the fact that energy plays a much greater role in our lives. Senator Levin believes it is important to continue this trend. He has long supported programs, such as Energy Star, to encourage energy conservation and efficiency. Senator Levin has also been a strong supporter of energy efficiency programs such as the Department of Energy's weatherization program and the Department of Health and Human Services' Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 authorized both of these programs at levels significantly higher than funding proposed by the Administration over the past several years. Senator Levin continues to work hard to ensure adequate funding for these very important programs.

Renewable Energy

Increasing energy efficiency is important in the short-term, and for the longer term, Senator Levin believes it is essential to begin reducing our dependence on fossil fuels by increasing our use of renewable energy. Renewable technologies such as wind and solar are becoming more economical every year. In fact, in some areas of the country these technologies are competitive with traditional fuels such as coal and natural gas. The increased use of these environmentally sound technologies will also reduce our dependence upon foreign oil and lead to the creation of tens of thousands of new jobs.

Senator Levin has also supported efforts to adopt a federal renewable electricity standard that would have required utilities to generate a percentage of their energy from renewable sources. Congress was unable to reach a consensus on this issue in 2007 but Senator Levin will continue to work with other Senators to develop a formula that can command broad support. The adoption of an economically feasible renewable electricity standard could lead to a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions while creating new high-skilled jobs for American workers.

Consumer Protection

Senator Levin has worked hard in the Senate to ensure that energy legislation protects consumers from market manipulation and that companies are held accountable for anti-competitive practices.

Advanced Automobile Technology

Senator Levin has long been a supporter of advanced automotive technologies, such as hybrid electric, advanced clean diesel, advanced batteries, and hydrogen and fuel cell technology, and has promoted development of these technologies through federal research and development and joint government-industry partnerships at the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy. Senator Levin has long advocated federal efforts that will lead to revolutionary breakthroughs in automotive technology and believes we should invest in leap-ahead technologies such as advanced batteries, plug-in hybrid and hydrogen vehicles that will reduce our dependence on oil, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and reduce prices at the pump.

Senator Levin has promoted government purchase of advanced technology vehicles for federal fleet use as a way to speed up the commercial production of these technologies and ultimately to bring down the cost of these vehicles to the consumer. He has also been a strong advocate of incentives for manufacture of these vehicles, and incentives that will encourage development of the infrastructure needed to support widespread use of these vehicles in the future.

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 included modest consumer tax incentives for hybrid electric, advanced clean diesel and fuel cell vehicles. Senator Levin believes that broader and more robust tax incentives will be required, however, to make significant strides in the availability and consumer acceptance of advanced technology vehicles.

Senator Levin supported an effort in 2007 to extend these existing consumer tax incentives and to expand the scope to include plug-in hybrid vehicles, but the Congress ultimately failed to enact these tax provisions. Senator Levin will continue to work toward a more robust set of tax incentives, both for consumer purchase and manufacture of advanced technology vehicles, as well as for the infrastructure to support them.

Fuel Economy Standards

In 2007, Senator Levin led the effort in the Senate to develop a structure and appropriate mechanisms for new fuel economy standards for vehicles that will lower our dependence on foreign oil and decrease greenhouse gas emissions without harming U.S. manufacturers and auto workers. The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 contained an ambitious increase in fuel economy standards for cars and light trucks, requiring auto manufacturers to achieve 35 miles per gallon by 2020.

Senator Levin worked with a coalition of senators and obtained key reforms to the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) system to set fuel economy standards based on vehicle attributes and to eliminate the requirement for a fleet-wide average for each manufacturer. This critical reform will end many years of discriminatory impacts on domestic manufacturers. Senator Levin was also able to obtain critical concessions on some of the most important issues, including requiring separate car and truck standards, preserving domestic jobs with an anti-backsliding provision, and extending existing fuel credits until 2014 to provide flexibility to our domestic manufacturers to make it more practically possible for them to reach the ambitious level of 35 miles per gallon by 2020.