Rep. Gosar Amendment Defeated!

Congressman Paul Gosar (R-AZ) has withdrawn his proposed amendment to the FY 2020 DOE budget that would have eliminated funding for the Clean Cities program in FY 2020. Click below to see the industry letter we submitted to the House of Representatives, cosigned by 14 national trade and non-profit organizations as well as 260 local and state organizations spanning 38 states.

Transportation Energy Partners 2019 Federal Policy Priorities

1. Extend Tax Incentives for Alternative Transportation Fuels, Vehicles and Infrastructure: Congress should provide a 5-year extension of the following tax incentives to provide policy stability and certainty to investors in the broad array of domestic alternative transportation fuels, vehicles and technologies.

• Tax credit that supports electric vehicle charging, natural gas, propane and biofuels infrastructure
• Tax credit for sellers of natural gas and propane as transportation fuels
• Tax credit for producers of biodiesel and cellulosic biofuels
• Special depreciation allowance for cellulosic biofuel plant property
• Tax credit for conversion to plug-in hybrid vehicles
• Tax credit for purchases of alternative fuel vehicles (reinstate credit for natural gas and propane vehicles)

2. Ensure Adequate Federal Funding in FY 2020 for Key Alternative Fuels Programs:
Congress should support funding for the following federal programs, which advance the development and deployment of clean transportation technologies:

• Congress should provide $50 million for the DOE Clean Cities program, including $30 million in competitive grants for new alternative fuel and vehicle deployment strategies. Clean Cities is DOE’s only initiative focused on the deployment of alternative transportation fuels, vehicles, and infrastructure.
• See letter to Congress supporting Clean Cities funding.
• Congress should provide $100 million for the EPA Clean Diesel Grants program, which has created jobs
  and improved air quality in hundreds of communities across the U.S.
• See letter to Congress supporting EPA Clean Diesel Grants funding.

3. Preserve the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS):

Congress should reject efforts to undermine or eliminate the RFS, which sets annual standards for production and use of conventional and advanced biofuels. Congress should also encourage the Trump Administration and the EPA to continue growing RFS volumes to ensure that we continue diversifying the transportation fuels market with clean alternatives that are creating jobs, cutting pollution, and reducing our dependence on foreign oil. Renewable fuels have helped reduce oil imports by 25 percent since 2000 and now provide 10 percent of America’s on-road transportation needs. In addition to ethanol, the RFS is stimulating impressive growth in Renewable Natural Gas and Advanced Biofuels such as biodiesel, which last year produced nearly 2 billion gallons and is poised for significant growth under a stable RFS.

4. Ensure Timely Approval of DOT CMAQ Funding for Alternative Fuel Vehicles:

Congress should make sure the FHWA reviews Buy America compliance for alternative fuel vehicles in a timely fashion, so they can receive CMAQ funding. There are currently dozens of projects including hundreds of vehicles that have been waiting for FHWA approval for more than a year. In the past, FHWA has approved compliance for vehicles assembled in the U.S. on a quarterly basis.

5. Include Funding for Alternative Fueling Infrastructure in Federal Infrastructure Legislation:

Consumer and business adoption of alternative fuel vehicles depends on the availability of reliable and convenient fueling and charging infrastructure. Under the FAST Act, the FHWA is in the process of designating alternative fueling corridors across the country. Congress should include funding in infrastructure legislation to install the charging and fueling stations in the designated corridors and other locations.

Stabilize Gas Prices, Reduce Foreign Oil Dependence, Create Jobs

Despite the recent drop in gasoline cost, prices remain volatile and we continue to send $200 billion a year to OPEC and other countries for oil. Meanwhile, China and other nations threaten to beat out the United States for leadership of the global clean energy market. More than 70 percent of the oil we import is used as our primary transportation fuel for our national fleet of 270 million vehicles.

American ingenuity and technology innovation have enabled vehicles using electricity, natural gas, propane, biodiesel, ethanol and hydrogen to take hold in the market place. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), there are more than 1.8 million alternative fuel vehicles in use in the United States and about 70,000 alternative fueling stations. Yet this represents a small fraction of the total American fleet.

The United States must aggressively expand our use of domestically produced alternatives to petroleum fuel if we are to stabilize gasoline prices, decrease our reliance on foreign oil, and create American jobs.

Investment in Alternative Fuels Creates American Jobs

In addition to enhancing our energy security, the clean transportation industry is also critical to our economic growth and global competitiveness.

• • There are more than 1 million plug-in electric vehicles on the road.  The global market for lithium ion batteries will grow from $25 billion in 2017 to $47 billion in 2023 and annual revenue from the infrastructure charging section is projected to grow to $5.8 billion in annual revenue by 2022.

• • The ethanol industry contributes about $45 billion a year to our nation’s economy, including more than 350,000 American jobs.

• • Biodiesel has grown into a 2.4-billion-gallon per year industry with 100 plants across the country supporting more than 60,000 jobs and providing $11 billion in economic impact.

• • There are about 200,000 propane-powered vehicles on America’s roads, and a fleet of more than 12,000 propane-powered school buses is used to transport more than 700,000 children to school each day. The propane industry contributed $46.2 billion to U.S. gross domestic product and employed 53,964 domestic workers in 2015.

• • The U.S. is the number one producer of natural gas in the world, and the industry provides 4.1 million American jobs. About 160,000 natural gas vehicles operate on America’s roads today. These vehicles are supported by 1,824 fueling stations that are connected by 2.5 million miles of natural gas pipelines.