Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2007 | 6:57 a.m.
Yogi Berra's line "It ain't over till it's over" rings just as true for energy bills as it does for baseball games. So a mandatory increase in the gas mileage of cars and trucks - finally, after 32 years - is not yet a given in the energy bill now being negotiated in Congress.
A major breakthrough on this issue, however, gives reason for optimism. The House reached agreement on a compromise late Friday that would require the auto industry to make cars, light trucks and vans that would, on average, get 35 miles to the gallon by 2020.
Key to the agreement was winning support from Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., who has long opposed an increase in the mileage standard out of loyalty to the auto industry, entrenched in the Detroit area and essential to his state's economy.
Just as important, Sen. Carl Levin, also a Michigan Democrat, has now announced his support of the 35 mpg requirement.
Ideally, in our view, Congress would pass a requirement for a 40-mpg average, which not long ago was gaining support in both the House and the Senate. But this compromise would represent a significant step forward from the standard that exists now. The last mandatory increase in fuel economy was in 1975.
The current requirement is that cars, light trucks and vans average 24 mpg. If the provision for a 35-mpg average remains in the bill and is signed into law, nearly 5 billion barrels of oil could be saved in this country every year.
But that "if" is big, especially because Republican senators are suggesting they might try to stop the bill. Even if Congress passes the bill, President Bush is threatening to veto it. A White House spokesman said Monday the president's concerns include the fuel efficiency requirement.
The schedule now is for the House to vote Thursday on the energy bill and for the Senate to take it up next week. Any number of issues could divide the House and Senate and provoke Bush, endangering the bill's passage.
One divisive issue is whether to require electric utilities to produce 15 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2020. In supporting this requirement, we point to Nevada's much tougher law - 20 percent of power sold in this state must come from renewables by 2015.
No one would be pushing for increased use of renewables and higher gas mileage if fossil fuels were not harmful to human health and, indeed, the health of the planet. We hope that Republicans don't end up derailing this comprehensive energy bill that promises a cleaner energy future.
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