EPA lists fuel-efficient cars members of Congress can lease

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EPA lists fuel-efficient cars members of Congress can lease

By David Goldstein | McClatchy Newspapers


WASHINGTON — A congressman's campaign to force members of Congress to drive "green" is gassed up and ready to go.

Lincoln Navigators to tool around the old congressional district? Those were the days, my friend.

At a time when gasoline costs more than $4 per gallon, do lawmakers really want to sit behind the wheel of a big honking SUV or some other gas-guzzling symbol of luxury, and on the taxpayer's dime?

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver's three-year drive to bring fuel efficiency to the federal vehicle-leasing program finally got some wheels. The EPA finally has compiled a list of what can be leased under Cleaver's 2005 proposal, which requires members of the House of Representatives who lease a vehicle taxpayer expense to pick one with low greenhouse-gas emissions.

"We have been preaching in Washington the importance of escaping from our dependence on foreign oil and reducing our carbon output," the Missouri Democrat said. "Now, each member who uses taxpayer money to lease a vehicle is forced to walk their talk."

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