Bills introduced in the U.S. House and Senate last week aim to reduce oil dependence by funding programs to
put hundreds of thousands of electric drive cars and trucks on the road
over the next five years.
U.S. Representatives. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Judy Biggert (R-Ill.), Jerry McNerney (D-Calif.), and Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) introduced the Electric Drive Vehicle Deployment Act of 2010, while Senators Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) introduced a companion bill, the Electric Vehicle Deployment Act of 2010.
The bipartisan bills would establish new funding to support efforts in five communities to work with industry, electric utilities and other organizations to deploy electric drive vehicles, including plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and battery electric vehicles.
The House version also included additional support for fuel cell electric vehicles.
The bills would help establish and expand recharging infrastructure for plug-in hybrid and battery electric vehicles. They do not expand support for hydrogen refueling infrastructure, however. The bills would augment funding currently available from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and energy bills passed in 2005 and 2007.
"Electrifying our cars and trucks in the coming decades will be a key part the broad strategy needed to cure our oil addiction. It’s gratifying to see lawmakers on both sides of the aisle working together on a smart, sensible policy," said David Friedman, research director of the Clean Vehicles program for the Union of Concerned Scientists.
Friedman said the bills would boost funds for producing, buying and selling electric drive vehicles and electric recharging infrastructure and help overcome some of the other barriers to electric drive vehicles, such as outdated codes, standards and zoning requirements.
In Related News…
China said on Tuesday that it will launch a pilot program in five cities to provide subsidies to buyers of electric and hybrid cars. Read Reuters coverage at the link below.
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This is new bills is actually cool and great, imagining electric drive cars and trucks on the road to lessen oil independence is a great idea. Moreso, recently, the financial reform bill is on the top of numerous people’s minds and particularly car dealerships. Instead of having to have somebody oversee them, they are seeking an auto dealer exemption to keep setting their very own rates in industry standard lending practices. If this bill is passed, even auto lenders would have to comply with the regulation of someone watching over them. Whether this bill passes or not; I can’t help but wonder just how much more our government is likely to get involved in us before we realize we now have lost numerous of rights to a free market. Our government is trying to fix things that aren’t broken and crossing the line between helpful and control.