by Faiz Shakir, Amanda Terkel, Satyam Khanna, Matt Corley, and Ali Frick

ENERGY

'Perfect Political Moment'

The last time Congress set corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards -- mandating a 25-mile-per-gallon standard for cars -- Gerald Ford was in the White House, Jaws was showing in movie theaters, and disco was king. But on Friday, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced a historic new agreement with House Energy Committee Chairman John Dingell (D-MI), supported by the major automakers, that allows the House to move forward with its stalled energy bill. The agreement would set CAFE standards at a fleet average of 35 miles per gallon, but would separate standards for SUVs and light trucks in an important compromise to automakers. The proposed energy bill, in the final stages of negotiation, would also vastly increase the use of biofuels, such as "cellulosic" ethanol, a more efficient biofuel than corn ethanol, and require utility companies to generate 15 percent of their energy from renewable sources, such as wind or solar. Despite the hard-fought bipartisan support for this bill, the White House has threatened to veto it. When he signed the first CAFE standard into law in 1975, President Ford admitted the law was hardly perfect, yet he recognized that "[t]he single most important energy objective for the United States today is to resolve our internal differences and put ourselves on the road toward energy independence." "If I were to veto this bill, the debates of the past year would almost surely continue through the election year and beyond. The temptation to politicize the debate would be powerful, and the Nation could become further divided," Ford said. Hopefully, Congress can push ahead to pass this historic bill and President Bush can recognize, as Ford did, how even what he may deem an imperfect energy bill serves the national interest.

CAFE STANDARDS: With oil futures "up about 76 percent from this year's lowest levels, in January," and Americans concerned about global warming and national security, Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) said the timing presented "a perfect political moment" to take action. The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) forecasted that the new CAFE standards would result in a lifetime savings to car owners of roughly $4,500 and, more importantly, cut oil imports by 1.1 million barrels per day in 2020, equal to half the amount currently imported from the entire Persian Gulf. Had these standards been fully implemented today, the average driver would have used 160 fewer gallons of gas, and saved $420 this year. "This agreement breaks 30 years of gridlock on fuel economy. ... This is a victory for Americans struggling with $3 per gallon gasoline and would deliver savings of more than $20 billion in 2020," said UCS's David Friedman. The support of the auto industry, along with Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) and Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI),  is key to the measure's success. Rick Wagoner, chairman and CEO of General Motors called the CAFE measures "tough" but assured that "GM is prepared to put forth its best effort" to meet them. Dave McCurdy, president and CEO of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the trade group that represents Detroit's Big Three, Toyota, Daimler AG, and five other automakers, said that "this tough national fuel economy bill will be good for both consumers and energy security. We support its passage." "This vehicle fuel economy agreement is the single most important step Congress can take to reduce our energy costs and dependence on Mideast oil," said Mark Cooper, Director of Research for the Consumer Federation of America. "Now it's up to Congress and President Bush to leave the past behind once and for all by prompt passage of and signature on these 21st Century fuel economy standards," said Dan Weiss, a fellow at the Center for American Progress.

RENEWABLE FUELS: Another provision of the bill would require "20.5 billion gallons of renewable fuels like ethanol to be mixed with U.S. motor fuel supplies by 2015, with 5.5 billion gallons of that coming from non-food sources like cellulosic ethanol." Automakers will continue to receive credits to encourage the development of "flex fuel" cars, which can run on a mixture of gasoline and other fuels, even though there is "no way to tell if such vehicles actually use biofuels or regular petroleum-based gasoline," and few gas stations sell such fuels. Oil companies have successfully blocked gas stations from selling E85. As the Center for American Progress noted yesterday, although there are currently only 1,261 gas stations nationwide selling E85, a mixture of ethanol and gasoline, this figure represents a 9 percent increase since June. The final energy bill may include incentives to sell E85 at more service stations.

RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY: Pelosi is also pressing for a controversial provision that requires utilities to generate 15 percent of their energy from renewable sources. The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy predicted such a measure would save $35 billion on energy bills through 2030. The measure has powerful enemies, including the utility trade group the Edison Electric Institute and southern Congressmen who mistakenly fear their states don't have enough renewable fuel sources to meet the 15 percent threshold. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said the provision would make the bill "very troublesome for all of us in the Southeast," and Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) "says Southerners' outrage makes Senate passage a 'worst-case scenario.'" Yet the bill would allow utilities "to purchase credits if renewable fuels are not available and allows efficiency programs as a partial substitute." Even though his state has implemented its own successful renewable electricity standard, Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) is leading the fight to oppose the measure, telling reporters yesterday, "At this time, I have instructed my staff to cease their work on the energy bill, since the final bill apparently will not be the product of our bipartisan negotiations." Yesterday, Bush's outgoing economic adviser Al Hubbard threatened a White House veto of the entire energy bill, objecting to the utilities provision and the CAFE standards. He wrote to Pelosi that the bill "should rely on market innovation" rather than legislated standards. "It appears Congress may intend to produce a bill the President cannot sign," Hubbard wrote. Speaking to reporters yesterday, however, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said he expected the provision to pass the Senate. "I think, yes, we do have enough votes, but time will tell," Reid said. The House is expected to vote on the energy bill this Wednesday, with a Senate vote on an identical version -- thereby eliminating the need for a conference committee -- to follow next week.

ADMINISTRATION -- WOLFOWITZ RETURNS TO BUSH ADMINISTRATION AS WMD ADVISER: Newsweek reports that Iraq war architect Paul Wolfowitz has been rewarded with a new position in the Bush administration that will allow him to oversee classified intelligence and inform policies on weapons of mass destruction issues. Wolfowitz will be chairman of the State Department's "prestigious" International Security Advisory Board, "which has access to highly classified intelligence, advises [Secretary of State Condoleezza] Rice on disarmament, nuclear proliferation, WMD issues and other matters." Prior to the Iraq war, Wolfowitz established the Office of Special Plans in the Pentagon to skirt the intelligence community and peddle the most egregiously false claims of Iraqi WMD. In a Jan. 2003 speech, Wolfowitz referenced "Iraqi efforts to procure uranium from abroad," despite the fact that the claim had already been discredited by the CIA. A few months after the Iraq invasion, Wolfowitz admitted that claims of Iraqi WMD were used as political tools to achieve consensus for the war. Laura Rozen at Mother Jones notes that Wolfowitz's new position "doesn't require Senate confirmation." ETHICS -- EMBATTLED LARRY CRAIG ESCAPES TO BALI TO STALL GLOBAL WARMING TREATY: Currently the subject of an ongoing ethics investigation, facing continued allegations of being gay, and stripped of his leadership positions on the Veterans Affairs and Appropriations Committees, Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) is traveling to Bali this week for the U.N.-led climate change conference as the "Republican representative from the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee" (EPW), led by chief global warming denier Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK). Prior to his travels, Craig -- who has long denied man-made climate change --  attacked EPW Chairwoman Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) for creating "all-pain, no-gain" climate change legislation that would call for caps on greenhouse gas emissions. It "demonstrates nothing more than her intent to revert the United States to a developing country," he asserted. Boxer is also the Chairwoman of the Senate Ethics Committee, which is investigating "allegations of sexual misconduct" by Craig. Isolated from his own party and now "a wisp of his former self in the Senate," Craig will have to rely on the support of fringe, discredited global warming deniers. IRAQ -- DASCHLE REBUTS ROVE, SAYS HE'S A 'JOKE' WHO IS 'TRYING TO SELL SOME BOOKS': On the Bill Press Show yesterday, former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) dismissed Karl Rove's false claim that Democrats in Congress -- not the Bush administration -- forced a war vote prior to the 2002 midterm elections. Daschle called Rove's "outrageous statements" a "joke" and a clear effort to "sell some books." "I literally thought it was a joke," said Daschle. "I can't believe anybody would make such an outrageous statement. ... I guess he's trying to sell some books." Daschle also reiterated the fact that he had "directly" asked President Bush to delay the vote on the war in Sept. 2002, but was rebuffed by Bush, who said he "can't do that." Despite the fact that he has been contradicted by three members of the Bush administration who were involved in pre-war planning, Rove continues to push his "far-fetched" and "not-credible" story. This past weekend, Rove cherry-picked old quotes by Daschle that he claimed proved that Daschle wanted the pre-election vote as much as Bush did. Listen to Daschle's comments here.

When intelligence analysts briefed Bush administration officials on Iran in July, the officials refused to believe that Iran had stopped its weapons program. They "expressed skepticism" about an intercept from "a senior Iranian military official" complaining "that the nuclear program had been shuttered," believing it was "part of a clever Iranian deception campaign." The IAEA says that the new National Intelligence Estimate on Iran's halted nuclear weapons program is "validation of its own long-standing conclusion that there is 'no evidence' of an undeclared nuclear program in Iran." Glenn Greenwald notes that the IAEA has long been attacked for its conclusions. Israel publicly challenged the U.S. intelligence consensus that Iran had stopped its nuclear weapons program. "It's apparently true that in 2003 Iran stopped pursuing its military nuclear program for a time. But in our opinion, since then it has apparently continued that program," Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak told army radio. Iran welcomed the U.S. intelligence report and said it was becoming clear the Islamic republic's plans were peaceful. Manouchehr Mottaki, the Iranian foreign minister, said, "The condition of Iran's peaceful nuclear activities is becoming clear to the world." "Fifty-two percent of Americans say the economy and health care are most important to them in choosing a president, compared with 34% who cite terrorism and social and moral issues, according to the latest Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll. That is the reverse of the percentages recorded just before the 2004 election."  20 percent: Number of Americans who are unable to afford health care, according to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Two senior Republican appropriators in the Senate -- Sens. Thad Cochran (R-MS) and Ted Stevens (R-AK) -- "have collected more money in earmarks than any other members of Congress." In the words of one GOP aide, they are "not only the kings of pork, they’re outright hogs." U.S. officials in Afghanistan say they "now were considering providing arms to local tribes in Afghanistan, along with training, equipment and other support," as violence rises in Afghanistan. The effort would be modeled after "efforts in Iraq to empower the locals to police their own neighborhoods." A report by the Government Accountability Office said the Defense Department and top military officials including Gen. David Petraeus have sought to show progress in Iraq by citing numbers of Iraqi Security Force units deemed "independent." "But it is unclear how the Pentagon and its officials have reached those conclusions." And finally: Steve Martin and Dan Akroyd famously played "playboy Czech brothers who called themselves 'two wild and crazy guys'" in a famous Saturday Night live skit. In a video greeting the Kennedy Center Honors recipients, which included Martin, Bush "said he hoped that Martin and Cheney would have a chance to meet that evening. 'It's about time those two wild and crazy guys got together,' the president joked."

"A 190-nation climate meeting in Bali took small steps towards a new global deal to fight global warming by 2009."

MISSOURI: Planned Parenthood is calling on Gov. Matt Blunt (R) to disband his Task Force on the Impact of Abortion on Women, calling it a "sham organization."

ARIZONA: "Arizona is poised to join more than a dozen states that offer health and other benefits to domestic partners of state employees, gay or straight."

ALABAMA: Birmingham city schools will be the first in the nation to receive laptops from the One Laptop Per Child program.

THINK PROGRESS: Despite knowledge that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program, the White House continued to warn of false threat.

CREW BLOG: The White House may have deleted more than twice as many e-mails as previously estimated.

EMPTYWHEEL: The White House is blocking the House Oversight Committee from accessing Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's files on the outing of Valerie Plame.

MEDIA MATTERS: Fox News refuses to air a pro-Constitution ad.

"[Y]eah, I believe they [Iranians] want to have the capacity, the knowledge, in order to make a nuclear weapon."
-- Bush, 10/17/07

VERSUS

"[W]hen was the president notified that there was new information available? ... As I say, it was, in my recollection, is in the last few months."
-- National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, 12/4/07, on when President Bush was notified of the intelligence community's assessment of Iran's halted nuclear program