Energy bill: Expand supply, do little about reducing demand.

Story here.

What the political caste seems to have a problem understanding here is that you can improve fuel economy without mandating changes in the CAFE standards. I'm against mandating fuel economy, but there are other ways to get companies to improve.

My suggestions:

1. Substantial tax breaks for American auto manufacturers that make only autos with a fuel usage of 40 mpg or better.

2. Federal refund for state and local property taxes paid on owner-occupied dwellings with solar, wind, and/or geothermal power.

3. Mandate all new federal buildings have a secondary power supply, using solar, wind or geothermal, and do what you can to encourage states and other governmental entities to do the same.

4. Get Consumer Reports to do a study on those fuel-saving devices, like the Tornado air intake system, Splitfire sparkplugs, and AirHog air filters. When we find out which ones actually work, mandate that all government vehicle fleets use them.

3 and 4 can best be summed up with "Lead by example."