For Immediate Release
Contact: Justin Kitsch
202-461-2365
May 11, 2011
EC Applauds Introduction of Bipartisan Electrification Legislation in U.S. Senate
WASHINGTON – The Electrification Coalition (EC) today strongly praised Senators Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) for introducing the Promoting Electric Vehicles Act of 2011.
“Today, the cars and trucks that power our dynamic, mobile economy are entirely dependent on petroleum,” Seifi Ghasemi, Chairman & CEO of Rockwood Holdings, Inc. and a member of the Electrification Coalition, said. “It would be ideal if there were a free market solution to the dangers our oil dependence poses, but with more than 90 percent of global oil reserves held by national oil companies that are fully or partially controlled by foreign governments, there is no free market for oil. We are utterly dependent on a global commodity that we cannot and never will control. This legislation puts us on the pathway toward a future in which we take full advantage of our own diverse, domestic power sources. For the first time, we will control the fuel supply that drives our vehicles, our economy, and our future.”
The bill, like bipartisan House legislation introduced last week, echoes recommendations put forward by the Electrification Coalition by proposing a path forward in which geographic areas would compete to be selected as electrification “deployment communities,” in which a wide array of financial incentives are employed so that all of the elements of an electrified transportation system are deployed simultaneously. The legislation also would offer support for the electrification of vehicles in both private and government fleets; increase R&D funding for batteries and other electric vehicle components; and establish loan guarantees for the stationary use of automotive grade batteries.
“Because of our nation’s dependence on petroleum, our economy can be held hostage when unrest happens halfway across the world,” Admiral Dennis C. Blair, U.S. Navy (Ret.), former Director of National Intelligence and Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Command, and member of the Energy Security Leadership Council—a partner organization to the Electrification Coalition—said. “It is time to face this threat once and for all. Our transportation system is completely dependent on oil, which means that when supplies are disrupted, we have only two bad choices: pay more or drive less. This bill, which echoes many of the recommendations that the Energy Security Leadership Council has made in recent years, represents the first steps toward a nation that is no longer dependent on petroleum at all. I commend the bipartisan leaders in the Senate who have introduced this important energy security legislation.”
The Electrification Coalition, launched in November 2009, is committed to promoting policies and actions that facilitate the deployment of electric vehicles on a mass scale in order to combat the economic, environmental, and national security threats posed by our nation’s dependence on petroleum. The EC’s 2009 Electrification Roadmap proposed a set of policies, including electrification deployment communities, that taken together represent a detailed vision for the deployment of a fully integrated electric drive network.
On May 27, 2010, Republicans and Democrats in both the House and the Senate introduced legislation that largely echoed the Roadmap. A version of the legislation was approved by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on an overwhelming bipartisan 19-4 vote on July 21. After November’s mid-term elections and again in 2011, both President Obama and Senator McConnell have stated their belief that electric vehicles represent an area in which Republicans and Democrats can agree. Last week, Representatives Judy Biggert (R-IL), Ed Markey (D-MA), Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and Jerry McNerney (D-CA) introduced the Electric Drive Vehicle Deployment Act, which shares the fundamental shape of both the Roadmap and today’s Senate legislation.