Mileage Vote Reveals New Configuration in Senate (NYT)

Source: New York Times

Mileage Vote Reveals New Configuration in Senate

By CARL HULSE
Published: June 23, 2007

WASHINGTON, June 22 — Automakers had to know they
were in serious trouble when Senator Barbara A. Mikulski,
a Maryland Democrat with deep blue-collar roots, announced
that she had lost patience with their annual objections
to higher gas mileage rules.

-snip-

Bolstered by such converts as Ms. Mikulski, the Senate just
before midnight Thursday approved an energy bill that would
for the first time in more than two decades require auto
companies to produce cars and trucks that get substantially
more out of a gallon of gas.

But that was about the only industry it took on. The measure,
approved on a bipartisan 65-to-37 vote, essentially spared
oil and gas companies and major utilities and fell short of
goals initially set by supporters in areas like renewable fuels.

Still, lawmakers treated the traditionally insurmountable
opposition of the auto industry as little more than a speed
bump on the way to the bill’s passage. That amounted to a
cultural shift in the Senate, where an alliance of union-
backed Democrats, lawmakers of both parties from auto-
producing states and business-minded Republicans had always
pulled together to hold off increases in fuel efficiency rules,
also called the Corporate Average Fuel Economy, or CAFE,
standards. They traditionally argued that the technology
for higher mileage was not available, car costs would rise
and Detroit would be forced to make lighter and smaller but
more dangerous cars.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/23/washington/23energy.html

realize that under the current small majority that would have been imposesible. I'm GLAD they AT LEASt chose to buck the greedy auto makers who had the ba^^s a few weeks ago to say they were going to have their small cars made in China because they couldn't make a small fuel efficient car here in the US and still make a profit! THAT'S BS! They wouldn't have been able to make the AMOUNT of profit on a small car as they do on an SUV, TRUCK, or luxury land yacht...so MAKE IT UP IN VOLUME!!!!!