HJ0076 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HJ0076 LRB093 21862 DRH 49842 r

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, America's increasing dependence on foreign oil has contributed to rising gasoline prices throughout Illinois and the nation; and

WHEREAS, Illinois is one of the largest producers of ethanol, and pending federal legislation could help reduce gasoline prices by promoting renewable fuels like ethanol; and

WHEREAS, Numerous economic development and environmental benefits result from the use of renewable fuels, including strengthening our agricultural sector by increasing demand for soybeans and corn, improving net farm income, improving our rural economies, creating new renewable fuels industry related jobs, reducing our dependence on foreign oil, improving our energy security, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions; and

WHEREAS, National ethanol use under the proposed renewable fuels standard would roughly double, increasing from approximately 2.5 billion gallons per year today to 5 billion gallons by 2012; and

WHEREAS, The Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC) would mitigate a serious flaw in the existing alcohol fuels tax credit, would stop penalizing ethanol usage, and would bring almost $1.9 billion in additional highway trust fund dollars to Illinois over a 6-year period, allowing the State to improve infrastructure and create jobs; and

WHEREAS, American automakers have the technology today to achieve far greater improvements in fuel economy, and increasing the CAFE standard of passenger automobiles to 40 miles a gallon by 2015 and of non-passenger automobiles to 27.5 miles a gallon by 2015 would save more than 120 billion gallons of gasoline and more than 250 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions; therefore be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we urge the United States Congress and the Administration to strongly support and expeditiously pass the Renewable Fuels Legislation, the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit, and stronger CAFE standards; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be delivered to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy, the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation, the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality, the President pro tempore of the U.S. Senate, the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, and each member of the Illinois congressional delegation.