The Senate Energy Committee today agreed to a provision in the energy bill (because we wouldn't have energy without legislation, you know) to "direct the president" to find ways to reduce American oil consumption by 1 million barrels per day by 2015. The measure was approved without debate.
The House energy committee rejected a similar proposal mandating a 1 million b/d reduction by 2013. The two august legislative bodies get to hash this sucker out. Swell.
Neither the House nor the Senate decided to include measures that would increase vehicle fuel economy standards, which -- solely from the standpoint of government fiat -- would have been the easiest way to achieve that 1 million barrel mandate. But that would have cost votes from Michigan and elsewhere.
I'm guessing the Senate believes Americans can simply be ordered to stop consuming so much oil. Maybe by 2015, the president will have that kind of power...
