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Yeah, we’re still digging through House Resolution 6899 — the Comprehensive American Energy Security and Consumer Protection Act — and guess what we found? While the second section of the bill deals with new offshore drilling, 70 or so sections later, under “Miscellaneous Provisions,” is a requirement that every gas station owned by a major gas company — Shell, BP, etc — add at least one alternative fuel pump by 2018.

“Alternative fuel pump” means any pump that holds natural gas; E85 or a higher concentration of ethanol; biodiesel or renewable diesel; or hydrogen.

If these companies don’t retrofit by 2018, they’ll be fined $100,000 per station. In another section of the bill, there’s a $50,000 tax credit for every station that adds an E85 pump. That credit is good until 2017. So if the companies add E85 it will cost them roughly $50,000 less than any other alternative fuel.

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