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1
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, America's increasing dependence on foreign oil
3 has contributed to rising gasoline prices throughout Illinois
4 and the nation; and
 
5     WHEREAS, Illinois is one of the largest producers of
6 ethanol, and pending federal legislation could help reduce
7 gasoline prices by promoting renewable fuels like ethanol; and
 
8     WHEREAS, Numerous economic development and environmental
9 benefits result from the use of renewable fuels, including
10 strengthening our agricultural sector by increasing demand for
11 soybeans and corn, improving net farm income, improving our
12 rural economies, creating new renewable fuels industry related
13 jobs, reducing our dependence on foreign oil, improving our
14 energy security, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions; and
 
15      WHEREAS, National ethanol use under the proposed renewable
16 fuels standard would roughly double, increasing from
17 approximately 2.5 billion gallons per year today to 5 billion
18 gallons by 2012; and
 
19      WHEREAS, The Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC)
20 would mitigate a serious flaw in the existing alcohol fuels tax
21 credit, would stop penalizing ethanol usage, and would bring
22 almost $1.9 billion in additional highway trust fund dollars to
23 Illinois over a 6-year period, allowing the State to improve
24 infrastructure and create jobs; and
 
25     WHEREAS, American automakers have the technology today to
26 achieve far greater improvements in fuel economy, and
27 increasing the CAFE standard of passenger automobiles to 40
28 miles a gallon by 2015 and of non-passenger automobiles to 27.5
29 miles a gallon by 2015 would save more than 120 billion gallons
30 of gasoline and more than 250 million metric tons of carbon

 

 

HJ0076 - 2 - LRB093 21862 DRH 49842 r

1 dioxide emissions; therefore be it
 
2      RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
3 NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE
4 SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we urge the United States
5 Congress and the Administration to strongly support and
6 expeditiously pass the Renewable Fuels Legislation, the
7 Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit, and stronger CAFE
8 standards; and be it further
 
9      RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
10 delivered to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy,
11 the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation, the
12 Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the
13 Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality, the President
14 pro tempore of the U.S. Senate, the Speaker of the U.S. House
15 of Representatives, and each member of the Illinois
16 congressional delegation.