The war in the Middle East has given Sen. Richard Bryan (D-Nev.) the ammunition to reintroduce legislation that would require higher fuel efficiency for corporate automobile fleets.

Bryan will bring the corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) bill, which was stymied in the last session, back to the floor of the Senate within the next two weeks, according to staffers.

Although the legislation had strong support in the Senate last fall, it fell short of the 60 votes needed to defeat the effort to filibuster the bill. "The debate on energy policy will continue because a parliamentary setback cannot change the reality of an increasingly dangerous world," said Bryan at the time.

"We will be back to deal with improving automobile fuel economy, because the automobile is where the oil is consumed. We presently consume more than 60% of our oil in the transportation sector, and a majority of that oil is consumed by the automobile," Bryan said. "The truth is simple--to reduce our dependence on foreign oil we must improve our automobile economy."

The CAFE bill would require automobile manufacturers to improve the average fuel economy by 20% in the 1995 model year, and by 40% by 2001. It would result in new car fleets with an average of 34.4 miles per gallon in 1995 and an average of 40 miles per gallon in 2001.

Not unexpectedly, the bill ran into ferocious opposition from the automobile industry last year, and more of the same is expected when the legislation is introduced again.

"This organization opposes Bryan's bill because it is extreme," said Mike Stanton, director, federal liaison of the Motor Vehicles Manufacturers Assn. "The only way to get those 20% and 40% improvements is by taking out weight. And that would take the fleet's average-size car down to about the size of a Ford Escort.

"Any CAFE legislation ought to be considered as a part of a national energy plan, but alone it will not solve our problems, such as our dependence on foreign oil," Stanton said. "Its impact wouldn't even be felt in automobile fleets until the year 2010."

But perhaps more surprising is the opposition from some of the major environmental groups. Although he said Bryan's heart is in the right place, James J. Mackenzie of the World Resources Institute said CAFE legislation will not get the job done.