Clinton Proposes New Safety Measures To Ensure Imported Products Are Safe For American Families

 

Would Strengthen Safety Net for Imported Food, Toys and Medicine

 

Today in Shenandoah, IA, Hillary Clinton outlined her agenda to address the challenge of import safety for food, children’s products, and drugs and medical devices.  She believes that it is simply unacceptable that in America in 2007, families worry about the safety of the food they put on their dinner tables or the medicines they buy, or that any parents fear for their child’s well-being every time they buy a toy. 

 

As President, Hillary will repair our import safety net by holding foreign producers to American safety standards, making importers responsible for the food, drugs, and toys they bring into our country, expanding the number of inspectors, and stiffening penalties for violators.

 

”Parents shouldn’t have to worry about the safety of the food they serve for Thanksgiving or the toys they buy their children for Christmas. Protecting the public is one of the most basic jobs of our government, but the Bush Administration’s response to the rash of toy recalls and contaminated food scares has been slow and inadequate,” Clinton said. “As President, I will make a fundamental commitment to protecting the health and safety of the American people and repair our broken consumer safety net.” 

 

Hillary will implement a broad import safety agenda, including:

 

Creating a single food safety agency responsible for overseeing all federal food safety activities.

 

Banning lead in children’s products.

 

Requiring independent third-party testing for imported toys

 

Holding foreign producers of drugs, toys, and food to American safety requirements, and holding importers liable for the products they bring into this country.

 

Imposing stiffer civil penalties and pursuing criminal prosecutions against companies that put our children and citizens at risk.

 

Increasing the number of inspectors at ports of entry and in foreign countries to verify that our safety rules are being followed.

 

Mandating and fully funding Country of Origin Labeling.

 

Appointing a Chair of the Consumer Product Safety Commission whose first priority is protecting the public – not industry.

 

 

Hillary Clinton’s Import Safety Agenda

 

 

The Challenges

 

America’s food supply is at risk.  Tens of millions of Americans contract food-borne illnesses every year; hundreds of thousands are hospitalized; and thousands die.  And imported foods – especially from countries with spotty safety records like China – pose a unique and growing challenge.  Food imports from China totaled more than $4 billion in 2006, nearly four times as much as a decade ago.  Chinese food-import shipments are stopped at the border more often than those of any other country.  And even though the FDA only inspects about 1% of imports that reach our docks, it refused nearly 300 separate shipments from China in the first four months of this year alone.

 

Imported toys and other products are endangering our children.  China produces roughly 80 percent of the toys sold in the United States, and most of the toys in the world.  The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has overseen a total of 72 toy recalls this year, involving some 32 million toys – 99 percent of them made in China.  Popular toys, including Thomas and Friends trains, Elmo, Big Bird, Polly Pockets, and Dora the Explorer, have been taken off of the shelves because they were covered in lead paint or because their tiny, powerful magnets could harm children if swallowed.

 

The Bush Administration has failed to lead.  The Bush Administration has underfunded and understaffed the CPSC.  The agency has only one person – a single individual – responsible for testing the safety of toys.  Meanwhile, the Acting Chair, Nancy Nord, has embraced the astounding position that Congressional legislation to fully fund and equip the CPSC is “unnecessary.”  At the FDA, funding and staffing levels are similarly inadequate, and President Bush’s appointment of a food safety “czar” within the FDA bureaucracy is a stop-gap measure.  Right now, 15 agencies collectively administer more 30 laws related to food safety, and the result is fragmentation, overlap, gaps, and waste.  Inadequate budgets and staffing hamper the FDA’s efforts to regulate foreign drug and device makers as well. 

 

The Solutions

 

Hillary will implement a broad import safety agenda to address these challenges, including:

 

Creating a single food safety agency responsible for overseeing all federal food safety activities.

 

Banning lead in children’s products.

 

Requiring independent third-party testing for imported toys

 

Holding foreign producers of drugs, toys, and food to American safety requirements, and holding importers liable for the products they bring into this country.

 

Imposing stiffer civil penalties and pursuing criminal prosecutions against companies that put our children and citizens at risk.

 

Increasing the number of inspectors at ports of entry and in foreign countries to verify that our safety rules are being followed.

 

Mandating and fully funding Country of Origin Labeling.

 

Appointing a Chair of the CPSC whose first priority is protecting the public – not industry.

 

Protecting our Food Supply

 

Require foreign food producers to meet American safety requirements, and require all importers to take full responsibility for the safety of imported food, including pet food and animal feed.  Hillary will take four steps:

·        First, mandate that U.S.-based importers demonstrate – with full legal accountability – that their foreign suppliers are executing an effective plan to meet American safety standards through preventive controls. 

·        Second, mandate that foreign producers of at-risk foods and food products receive special safety certifications before they can ship to the U.S. 

·        Third, direct the FDA to station more personnel overseas to conduct facility inspections, and make FDA access to foreign facilities and records a condition of entry to the United States.  Hillary’s FDA would also develop binding agreements with foreign governments that seek to improve their food safety regulatory capacity and oversight.     

·        Fourth, direct the FDA to block future imports of particular food products from particular countries based on patterns of past violations.  At the same time, create a “fast track” entry system for responsible importers with a proven track record of safety who also take additional steps to create a secure supply chain.   

 

Improve our nation’s import inspection system, with more inspectors, fewer ports of entry, and upgraded testing laboratories.  Hillary will:

·        More than double the number of FDA food inspectors to 4,500, and direct the additional personnel to increase the number and improve the effectiveness of import inspections at U.S. ports of entry.  Add personnel and upgrade equipment at existing test labs.

·        Direct the FDA to designate ports of entry for certain types of at-risk food products and post inspectors at all of them.  Right now, there are more than 300 ports of entry but the FDA posts inspectors at less than 100. 

·        Require that products subject to import alerts be tested in certified labs.  Prohibit unaudited labs from giving food products a clean bill of health.

 

Fine, prosecute, and punish importers who bring unsafe food into the country.  Hillary will establish and enforce tough new civil penalties and strengthen criminal penalties for companies that import unsafe, adulterated or misbranded foods, or that falsely certify that their foreign processors have met our safety standards.  Hillary will also make it illegal for companies to violate recall requirements, and impose severe civil and criminal penalties for violations.

 

Mandate and fund Country-of-Origin Labeling.  Hillary believes we’ve waited too long for COOL and she will call on USDA to swiftly adopt and implement a truly workable, common-sense COOL rule.  The rule will protect consumers by putting information in their hands about where their produce and food is coming from. And it will help local farmers stand out from the crowd and promote their home-grown products.

 

Give our safety agencies mandatory recall authority and direct them to create a national tracing system so we can determine the origin of tainted food.  Hillary will authorize the FDA and USDA to mandate recalls of tainted products.  Right now, the FDA and USDA lack mandatory recall authority.  She will also direct the FDA, USDA, and CDC to establish an integrated national traceback system to help regulators trace food products and ingredients from their point of sale back to their origin.  At present, there are gaps in our ability to determine the source of unsafe food and animal feed, which hinders efforts to control outbreaks and curb them before they spread.  We must ensure that we have adequate tracking and monitoring mechanisms in place to ensure the health of our livestock, our farmers and our consumers nationwide.   

 

Protecting our Children from Unsafe Imported Products

 

Establish a complete ban on lead in children’s products.  In 2007, there is no longer a reason for lead in toys or other products. Hillary will work with the Consumer Product Safety Commission and Congress to ensure that all children’s products are lead-free.

 

Require third-party testing for all imported toys in at-risk categories.  Hillary would require that, effective immediately, all imported toys in at-risk categories (including those containing paint, magnets, or coating) be tested by independent third-party testing organizations to assure they do not contain hazardous substances or otherwise pose serious risks to children, before they can be put on the shelves and sold.  She would move to a certification and testing program for all toys – imported and domestic.

·        Products must meet all mandatory and voluntary standards, must not contain any banned hazardous substances, must not pose safety risks, and must be lead-free.

·        Failure to obtain a certification before putting toys on the shelves would be a prohibited act under federal law.

·        The CPSC would have the authority to detain shipments that do not meet testing requirements.

 

Authorize the CPSC to require that selected companies pay a bond pending completion of independent third-party testing.  In order to protect consumers and taxpayers from fly-by-night foreign importers, Hillary will allow the CPSC to require the posting of a bond where there are concerns (1) that the CPSC might have to detain and destroy the shipment and (2) that the company will either disappear or abandon the shipment. The CPSC will have discretion to require the bond.

 

Increase and enforce both civil and criminal penalties for violators.  Hillary will:

·        Increase criminal penalties to 5 years in jail for those who knowingly and willingly violate product safety laws, and enforce them against companies that are knowingly putting our kids at risk.

·        Raise the cap on fines for failure to report known hazards from $1.85 million to $25 million and include a provision that lifts the cap entirely in extraordinary circumstances.

·        Increase maximum penalties against importers who repeatedly import products that violate American law.

·        Create a new penalty for retailers who sell products they know to be the subject of a recall.

 

Authorize a three-fold increase in the number of CPSC investigators, compliance staff, and engineers who evaluate products.  Right now, only a single CPSC employee is devoted full time to testing toys.  Hillary would direct that a significant number of the new hires be deployed as part of a strategy to meet the threat posed by imported children’s products.  To improve coordination, Customs liaison officers should be appointed to head up cooperative efforts between CPSC and Customs at major points of entry.

 

Bring the CPSC laboratory into the 21st century.  Hillary will authorize a one-time expenditure to conduct a complete overhaul and modernization of this critical testing facility, which has not had significant improvements in three decades. She will call on the CPSC to expand the facility to prepare for increased usage based on increased inspections.

 

Overhaul the way in which the CPSC conducts recalls.  Hillary will:

·        Require that simple “recall cards” accompany at-risk categories of toys. These “cards” – which could come in the form of information printed on the package – would provide information for how parents could register online, by phone, or through the mail to be directly informed in the event of a recall.

·        Increase the number of CPSC investigators who conduct recall verification inspections to ensure that recalled products are being taken off the shelves.

·        Expand CPSC’s powers to take strong action against a company that refuses to engage in a recall and give CPSC – not the companies – power to determine recall remedies.

·        Empower consumers by speeding and simplifying CPSC’s public release of product safety information and reports of adverse events.

 

Protecting Americans from Unsafe Imported Over-the-counter and Prescription Medications and Medical Devices

 

Require that foreign drug makers produce a certification that they have met American safety standards as a condition of import into the United States.  Hillary will mandate that foreign producers of finished drugs and drug ingredients and medical devices demonstrate that:  their production facilities are subject to national regulations that are at least as stringent as American law; they have passed a thorough FDA inspection confirming that they are following American standards of care and preventive process controls; or they have undergone accredited independent third-party testing and review of their production processes and their finished products.  She will also open permanent FDA oversight offices in at-risk countries like China.

 

Require foreign drug and medical device manufacturers to accept random, unannounced onsite inspections as a condition of import.  Rather than the current approach of pre-announcing inspections that give foreign drug makers an opportunity to clean up their act, Hillary will direct the FDA to switch to surprise visits, as it does for domestic manufacturers. 

 

Direct the FDA to conduct a risk assessment of other imported products, including daily-use products such as toothpaste and cosmetics, as well as pet food and veterinary drugs.

 

Restoring Federal Leadership

 

Appoint a Chair to lead the CPSC who is a true advocate for product safety.  Hillary believes that CPSC Acting Chair Nancy Nord’s reluctance to accept greater funding and staffing to carry out CPSC’s mandate is unacceptable.  She calls on Acting Chair Nord to embrace – rather than reject – additional resources and to vigorously enforce the nation’s safety laws.  Within 60 days of taking office, Hillary will appoint a Chair to lead the Commission who is prepared to meet the consumer safety challenges of the 21st century.

 

Move toward a single Food Safety Administration responsible for all food products, with strong authorities to protect consumers.  Hillary will work to centralize our nation’s food safety efforts in one agency, so that multiple bodies aren’t policing imports and setting separate standards.  She believes that the current regulatory system is broken and that we can only meet the challenges we face through a single agency that uses a uniform system of tracing and inspection to ensure the highest standards of safety and quality from food’s origin to it consumption.

 

Double funding for both the CPSC and the FDA.

·        For the CPSC, increase the budget to $140 million, with appropriate increases over the years.  In real terms, the current budget of the CPSC is half of what it was in 1977.

·        For the FDA, increase the food safety budget to $1.1 billion over the next five years.  Start with an immediate increase of $200 million.

 

 

Excerpts from Hillary Clinton’s Policy Address

on America's Economic Challenges

 

Today Hillary Clinton delivered remarks on America’s economic challenges in Knoxville, IA.  Excerpts are below:

 

“The next president will be a steward of our economy at a time when the bills from eight years of neglect and mismanagement will be coming due.  He – or she – will have to turn our nation and our economy around.

 

“More than ever before, our workers will need good job training for the jobs of this new century.  But there is one job we can’t afford on-the-job training for – our next president.  That could be the costliest job training in history.  Every day spent learning the ropes is another day of rising costs, mounting deficits and growing anxiety for our families.  And they cannot afford to keep waiting.

 

“We need a president who understands the magnitude and complexity of the challenges we face – and has the strength and experience to address them from day one.  A president who has faith that the American people and the American economy are up to the task.  If you give me that chance, I will be that president.”

***

“Now, it’s no surprise that the President continues to stand by his failed economic policies.  This is, after all, a man who believes that stubbornness is a virtue.

 

“What is truly amazing, however, is that the Republican candidates for President are determined to continue these failed policies.  In fact, we can describe their approach to the economy in four simple words: More of the same. 

 

“They see $9 trillion in debt – and say why not trillions more?  They see tax cuts for wealthy Americans and big corporations – and say, why not some more?  They see one attempt to privatize Social Security – and say why not one more?

 

“In short, they see eight years of Bush economics – and say, why not eight more?

 

“Well, here’s my response to that: You’ve got until January 20, 2009, and not another day more. 

 

“I can’t wait to get on the stage to debate the Republican nominee as we make the case for change, and they argue for the status quo.  To them, it’s “leave no Bush economic policy behind.” 

 

“Today, America is ready for change.  But change is just a word without the strength and experience to make it happen.  It’s easy to give a speech about restoring the middle class.  But it’s hard to actually do it.  It’s easy to make up a program to address every economic problem.  But it’s hard to figure out how to pay for it. 

 

“We’ve been here before with a President who leaves the economic cupboard bare on election day.  This time, however, we won’t just have to clean up the economic mess he made – we’ll also have to end the war he started and address the healthcare crisis he left behind. 

 

“So we don’t need more Republican scare tactics about a “Social Security crisis.”  And we don’t need a trillion dollar tax increase that will hit families already facing higher energy, healthcare and college costs. 

 

“What we need is to focus on the real crises of healthcare and Medicare, and on expanding opportunities for poor, working and middle class families who are struggling now.  If the gathering economic challenges strike all at once in a perfect storm, these families will be hardest hit. 

 

“So in short, President Bush has abandoned the middle class, tilted the playing field against them, and said, “you’re on your own.”  Republicans running to replace him say it’s time for more of the same.  I say we need a new direction – and that I am the Democrat with the strength and experience to make the change we need.”

 

 

Clinton Outlines Plan to Address America’s Economic Challenges

Calls For Immediate Action To Reduce Foreclosures, Lower Consumer Energy Bills

 

Today in Knoxville, IA, Hillary Clinton offered a serious assessment of the economic challenges facing our country, outlined her plan to restore the middle class, and called for specific steps to reduce foreclosures and help families manage skyrocketing energy bills this winter.  As President, one of Hillary’s top priorities will be to responsibly manage our economic challenges in the face of deepening anxiety about our economic outlook.  Most importantly, she will be ready to lead on economic issues on day one of her Presidency and will focus on rebuilding America’s middle class.

 

“The next president will be a steward of our economy at a time when the bills from eight years of neglect and mismanagement will be coming due.  He – or she – will have to turn our nation and our economy around,” Clinton said.

 

“More than ever before, our workers will need good job training for the jobs of this new century.  But we can’t afford on-the-job training for our next president. That could be the costliest job training in history. Every day spent learning the ropes is another day of rising costs, mounting deficits and growing anxiety for our families. And they cannot afford to keep waiting.

 

“My plan to turn our economy around has four components: creating the new, good jobs essential to broad-based prosperity; restoring fairness to our economy; renewing the basic bargain that if you work hard, you can get ahead; and putting our fiscal house in order again.

I will help create opportunity for those left out during the Bush years while shifting the cost of the changes we need to those special interests that have gotten a free ride.”

 

Adding to her detailed plans to help rebuild the middle class, Hillary called for immediate action to help families fight foreclosures and pay their skyrocketing energy bills:

 

Double the budget of HUD’s Housing Counseling Assistance Program and make an additional $100 million immediately available;

Convene a “crisis conference” of housing stakeholders to stop the spike in foreclosures;

Implement a Crash Home Conservation Initiative for 3 Million Families;

Increase emergency energy assistance funding help more than 1 million additional families.

 

 

Hillary Clinton’s Plan To Address America’s Economic Challenges

 

 

Economic Challenges:

 

The housing crisis is hurting millions of families.  There have been 1.6 million foreclosure filings so far this year, and that figure is expected to climb as adjustable rate mortgages reset.  The Bush administration failed to act while the evidence mounted that unscrupulous brokers and lenders were qualifying people for houses they could not afford. Also, home prices are declining nationwide. One housing expert has estimated that the downturn in housing could erase $3 trillion in household wealth. [Alex Pollock, “The Subprime Lending Disaster and the Threat to the Broader Economy,” Testimony to the U.S. House Joint Economic Committee, September 18, 2007].  With wages stagnant, families had turned to the equity in their homes to cover the cost of college tuition and medical bills. But now that equity is declining, and the consequences are significant. As home prices fall, consumer confidence is weakening and it is increasingly difficult for homeowners to refinance costly mortgages.

 

Skyrocketing energy prices are imposing a $2,000 tax on middle class families. For seven years, the Bush Administration has outsourced energy policy to Dick Cheney and the oil companies, and blocked efforts to improve energy efficiency. Today, as the price of oil moves toward $100 a barrel, we are even more dependent on imported oil than we were on 9/11. [DOE, Energy Information Agency, 2007]. And middle-class families are paying the price. The average family is spending roughly $2000 more a year on energy costs – including electricity, home heating and gas – than they were in 2000.  That is the equivalent of a $2000 tax on families – more than three times what the typical family received from the Bush tax cuts.

 

A labor market that is not working for middle class families.  Between 2000 and 2006, household income fell nearly $1,000.  While productivity is up 18%, wages have stayed flat. According to a report by Goldman Sachs, over the 12-month period that ended in July of last year, the slow growth in wages for labor accounted for 64% of the increase in corporate profits. The Bush Administration defends the current labor market because the unemployment rate is at a reasonable 4.7%. But that masks the fact that labor participation has fallen to near historic lows, as millions of people have simply stopped looking for work. If labor force participation were the same today as it was in January 2001, the unemployment rate would be 6.7%.

 

Seven years of fiscal recklessness has eroded confidence in our economy. President Bush has overseen the most dramatic fiscal deterioration in our nation’s history. Reckless tax cuts and bloated spending have driven our national debt up 60% since 2000 to $9.1 trillion. Now the dollar is declining and confidence in our economy is eroding.

 

There are new challenges on the horizon:

 

·        Derivatives and other complex financial products: Derivatives and other complex financial products help investors manage risk and diversify their portfolios. But these securities can be quite volatile. Also, the owners don’t always understand the risks, and so even the banks that structure and trade them are losing billions of dollars on them. The ripples are being felt from Wall Street to Main Street. Markets work best when there is information flow. And markets are telling us that these new products are too opaque. As President, Hillary will direct the National Economic Council to study derivatives and other complex investment products, and to recommend ways of making them more transparent.

 

·         Sovereign wealth funds: Sovereign wealth funds are investment pools controlled by foreign governments.  Foreign governments will use these funds to acquire stocks, real estate, and whole companies in America and other nations.  It is estimated that these funds have approximately $2.5 trillion in assets today but will have more than 5 times as much within 10 years.  But the funds don’t have to disclose their holdings, investment objectives, investment returns or management structures.  Consequently, we do not know whether they are introducing unnecessary risks into markets or whether they are being used for non-commercial ends. To remedy this information deficit, Hillary calls on the multilateral financial institutions like the World Bank and the IMF to craft transparency guidelines for sovereign wealth funds. Strict disclosure requirements are critical if we are to understand these rapidly expanding investment vehicles. We welcome foreign investment in America. But we must be especially vigilant when the foreign investor is actually a government.

  

HILLARY CLINTON’S ECONOMIC PLAN:

 

As President, Hillary Clinton will be a responsible steward of the economy and address the challenges facing the middle class. Hillary has laid out her economic blueprint for the 21st century,  a comprehensive agenda that

 

Ø      Creates good jobs essential to broad-based prosperity;

Ø      Restores fairness to our economy;

Ø      Renews the basic bargain that if you work hard, you can get ahead; and

Ø      Puts America’s fiscal house in order again.

           

Hillary has announced detailed plans to address the housing crisis and to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Today she announced steps that the President must immediately take to help families fight foreclosures and pay their skyrocketing energy bills:  

 

§         Double the budget of HUD’s Housing Counseling Assistance Program and make an additional $100 million immediately available. The Housing Counseling Assistance Program provides financial support to community organizations that educate and counsel homeowners. These organizations can help at-risk homeowners work out solutions with their lenders in order to avoid losing their homes.  These organizations have an excellent track record.  By one estimate, more than 75% of homeowners who engage in counseling ultimately avoid foreclosure. Yet far too few at-risk families have access to counseling services. To remedy this situation, Hillary calls on the President to double the budget of HUD’s housing counseling program, and to make an additional $100 million available on an expedited basis. This initiative will enable community groups to help tens of thousands of families.

 

§         Convene a “crisis conference” of housing stakeholders to stop the spike in foreclosures.  Coordinated action is needed to end the foreclosure crisis that is disrupting the lives of millions of Americans. Hillary Clinton calls on the President to immediately convene a “crisis conference” that brings together all of the  stakeholders—banks, mortgage lenders, servicers, insurers, investors, representatives of homeowners, regulators, community groups, representatives of city and state governments—to work out a solution to the foreclosure crisis.

 

§         Implement a Crash Home Conservation Initiative for 3 Million Families. To help ease the financial burden of families living in cold-weather states, Hillary calls on the President to implement a crash home conservation program to provide families with easy-to-install efficiency items for their homes. The program will provide $1 billion in immediate funding to cold-weather states to help them make available Consumer kits of easily-installable energy conservation tools. States could make these kits available by offering tax credits or vouchers, or by partnering with non-profit organizations to coordinate distribution. Consumer kits would include items like water heater insulation blankets; pipe insulation; calking and weather stripping for doors, windows and attics; window insulation; low water flow faucet aerators; compact fluorescent lightbulbs; and a coupon for a visit from a furnace technician. This program could help three million families lower their heating bills by as much as 20% this winter—offsetting much of the projected increase in heating and energy costs. This is part of Hillary’s broader commitment to modernizing homes to improve energy efficiency. As President, she will modernize 20 million homes over 8 years, creating good jobs that cannot be outsourced.

 

§         Increase emergency energy assistance funding help more than 1 million additional families. Hillary calls on the President to put partisan politics aside and commit to sufficient emergency home heating funds to ensure that millions of seniors and low income families are not left literally out in the cold. She is calling on the President to consider at least $1 billion in emergency funds to increase both the size of heating assistance grants for families and extend assistance grants to up to 1 million more households this winter. She is challenging the Administration to join in an effort to encourage state LIHEAP agencies to reach out to eligible families that are likely to need assistance and encourage them to sign up. This is particularly important for senior citizens who live on fixed incomes (25% of seniors rely on Social Security as their sole source of income). Because Social Security’s cost of living adjustment does not take into account regional energy prices, a number of seniors will be in a bind without increased energy assistance. 

 

These steps build on Hillary’s existing plans to reduce foreclosures, reduce or dependence on foreign oil, and combat global warming, which includes:  

 

Addressing the housing crisis:

 

§         Establish a $1 billion fund to assist state programs that help at-risk borrowers avoid foreclosure

 

§         Expand Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac's Foreclosure prevention efforts, and direct the companies to help families replace unworkable mortgages with more stable ones

 

§         Permit the state housing finance agencies to issue an additional $2.5 billion per year of tax-free bonds, and require that they use the proceeds to help families refinance unworkable mortgages

 

§         Strengthen the FHA so that it provides an alternative to the high-risk subprime market

 

§         Pass legislation that punishes scam artists who prey on homeowners facing foreclosure

 

Reducing our dependence on foreign oil by 2/3 by 2030:

 

·        Aggressive action to transition our economy toward renewable energy sources, with renewables generating 25% of electricity by 2025 and with 60 billion gallons of home-grown biofuels available for cars and trucks by 2030;

 

·        A $50 billion Strategic Energy Fund, paid for in part by oil companies, to fund investments in alternative energy.

 

·        An increase in fuel efficiency standards to 55 miles per gallon by 2030, and $20 billion of “Green Vehicle Bonds” to help U.S. automakers retool their plants to meet the standards;

 

·        Doubling of federal investment in basic energy research, including funding for an ARPA-E, a new research agency modeled on the successful Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.