Although the United States possesses only 3 percent of the world's oil reserves, Americans consume over a quarter of the world's oil. More than 40 percent of that oil supply goes to powering our fleet of automobiles, which emit more carbon dioxide pollution than all but four countries (the U.S., China, Russia and Japan). The U.S. could substantially reduce both its dependence on oil and its carbon dioxide emissions--the primary contributor to global warming--by raising fuel efficiency standards and by taking advantage of existing technologies, among them better engines and transmissions and improved aerodynamics.

During House consideration of the energy bill (H.R. 6), Representatives Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) and Ed Markey (D-MA) introduced an amendment instructing the Department of Transportation to reduce the amount of oil consumed by U.S. automobiles by five percent by 2010. The amendment left it up to the administration to determine how to achieve the reduction. On April 10, 2003, the House rejected the Boehlert-Markey amendment by a vote of 162-268 (House roll call vote 132). YES is the pro-environment vote. The Senate also failed to pass an energy bill that included meaningful energy savings from passenger cars and trucks (Senate vote 3).