The American Fuels Act of 2007: Bipartisan Effort Continues

Harkin is the incoming Chairman of the Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee.

The American Fuels Act of 2007 would help greatly decrease U.S. dependence on foreign oil by increasing production, distribution and consumption of renewable fuels. The bill would increase production by mandating an increase in the creation of biodiesel, and by providing tax credits to spur new investment in cellulosic biomass fuels, which are considered the next generation in renewable fuels.

It would also create a robust biofuel distribution network by ensuring that oil companies aren't prohibiting the sale of renewable fuels, and would provide a tax credit that would encourage more ethanol producers to blend and sell their fuels on-site without the added cost of shipping the ethanol to oil refineries.

Finally, the bill would increase the use of renewable fuels by providing tax credits to increase production of ethanol-capable vehicles, requiring the entire federal vehicle fleet to be fuel-efficient by 2014, and requiring buses purchased with federal funds to use clean technologies.

The bill will work in concert with legislation introduced recently by Senators Harkin, Obama, Lugar, Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and Joe Biden (D-DE) that would increase the supply and demand for renewable fuels by blending 60 billion gallons of ethanol and biodiesel in the United States motor vehicle fuel supply annually by the year 2030.