Dingell puts fuel plan on back burner

Lawmaker sidesteps fight with Pelosi over banning states from regulating auto emissions.

Gordon Trowbridge / The Detroit News

WASHINGTON -- Rep. John Dingell put off a looming battle with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Monday, telling members of his Energy and Commerce Committee he will drop Detroit-friendly proposals on fuel economy, emissions and other issues from upcoming legislation.

Dingell, D-Dearborn, and Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., wrote in a memo to committee members that legislation in the next two weeks will not address federal fuel-economy standard for cars and trucks, the promotion of liquefied coal as a motor fuel and the creation of a low-carbon fuel standard.

It also will not include a proposal Dingell had floated that would bar California and other states from regulating auto carbon emissions.

That proposal brought Dingell into conflict with Pelosi, who was strongly opposed to limiting her state's right to regulate gases that contribute to global warming. California and 11 other states are seeking waivers from the federal government allowing them to limit auto emissions of greenhouse gases.

Dingell's bill was to call for automakers to reach an average of 36 miles per gallon for cars after 2021 and 30 mpg for trucks three years later. Environmentalists and other lawmakers argued that was not strong enough.

Instead, Dingell and Boucher said the committee would consider within the next two weeks an energy package that includes energy efficiency standards, a smart electricity grid, loan guarantees for innovative technologies, incentives for renewable fuels and the promotion of advanced batteries and plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles.

"We have decided to proceed with measures that represent consensus," Dingell and Boucher wrote in the memo.

The other issues likely will be deferred until this fall, when the House is expected to consider comprehensive energy legislation.

Dingell's announcement came one day before Michigan Sens. Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow are expected to formally propose an increase in auto mileage standards. The increase would be the first in a generation but is designed to head off tougher rules now included in legislation on the Senate floor.

Automakers and the United Auto Workers have endorsed the Michigan-backed proposal as more achievable and less damaging to struggling domestic carmakers.

A vote on the measure, to be introduced as an amendment to the energy package, could come Thursday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.