Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 112-107.
Congressional Research Service
Official summary
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · May 10, 2011
American Alternative Fuels Act of 2011 - Amends the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to repeal the requirement that any federal agency procurement contract for an alternative or synthetic fuel, including those from nonconventional petroleum sources, for any mobility-related use (except research or testing) specify that lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions associated with the fuel must, on an ongoing basis, be less than or equal to such emissions from equivalent conventional fuel produced from conventional petroleum sources.
Amends the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to: (1) require the Secretary of Energy to report to certain congressional committees the reasons for any delayed approval of an application for a loan guarantee for a substitute natural gas, chemical feedstock, or liquid transportation fuel project; and (2) make certain substitute natural gas production facilities eligible for loan guarantees.
Amends the Clean Air Act to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as an algae-based fuel incentive when calculating the applicable volume of renewable fuel for each calendar year, to consider each gallon of renewable biomass produced from algae to be equal to three gallons of renewable fuel if the algae-based fuel was produced using carbon dioxide captured in a manner that prevented its uncontrolled release into the atmosphere during a separate energy production process.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
Read full official summaryShow less
Authorizes the Secretary of Defense (DOD), the Secretary of the Army, the Secretary of the Navy, the Secretary of the Air Force, the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to enter into multiyear procurement contracts for alternative fuels, subject to certain requirements.
Amends the Clean Air Act to direct the permitting authority, when establishing the best available control technology for a major emitting facility that is an electric generating facility located in a region in which demand for electricity has increased significantly due to the volume of electric vehicles, to take into account the extent to which emissions of a pollutant have been reduced as a result of the increased use of such vehicles.
Source last updated: Sep 8, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Explore the bill from different angles
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Neutral evidence review
Objective
Analyze S.937 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
View full prompt & sources
Fairness and public impact
Progressive lens
Examine S.937 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
View full prompt & sources
Institutions and government scope
Conservative lens
Examine S.937 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
View full prompt & sources
Individual rights and government power
Liberty lens
Examine S.937 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.