FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, December 6, 2007

CONTACT:
Brandon MacGillis, (202) 887-8830 or (202) 550-4580
Joel Finkelstein or Kate Geller, (202) 822-5200

Pew Campaign for Fuel Efficiency Calls on Senate to Act Quickly In Wake of House Energy Bill Vote

WASHINGTON, DC — Phyllis Cuttino, director of the Pew Charitable Trusts Campaign for Fuel Efficiency, issued the following statement on the House of Representatives passing an energy bill including a meaningful increase in fuel efficiency standards to 35 miles per gallon by 2020:

"For the first time in more than 30 years the U.S. House has passed a bill to increase fuel efficiency. This will save the average two-car family more than $700 at the pump every year, in 2020. That should be an early Christmas present for all Americans — it should be, but it may not happen.

"Everybody wants to add just one more item to the fastest moving, must-pass legislation. With little time remaining and a long list of outstanding priorities, a historic agreement to increase fuel efficiency is quickly becoming the 'little engine that could' of the end-of-session legislation.

"This increase has the support of the UAW, the auto industry, environmentalists, both sides of the aisle, and, most importantly, 89% of American voters. This bill would sail through both chambers if it wasn't so weighed down by partisan politics.

"This is a once-in-three-decades opportunity, and if congressional leaders and the President let it slip through their fingers, they will fail not only families paying more than $3 a gallon at the gas pump, but our national security as well."

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