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Earth to Washington
The Center for Auto Safety is the nation’s premier independent, member driven, non-profit consumer advocacy organization dedicated to improving vehicle safety, quality, and fuel economy on behalf of all drivers, passengers, and pedestrians.
By David Corn
November/December 2008
…And cut through the Senate. Because a 60-vote supermajority is required to end a filibuster, notes Dan Becker, director of the Safe Climate Campaign, "the question is always who will be the 60th vote, and that vote will determine how strong or weak a bill is."
Just getting the fuel-economy standards through the Senate was a monumental task, Becker recalls. "It took pressure from states [passing their own clean-car laws], it took high gas prices, it took a film by Al Gore, it took a perfect storm—all to win against one powerful industry. And we weren’t fighting the utilities or the oil and gas industries."…