Senators John Thune, Sam Brownback, Ken Salazar and Joseph Lieberman have introduced the Open Fuel Standard Act. The bill would require that 50-percent of new automobiles be flex fuel by 2012 - with that number increasing to 80-percent by 2015. Thune - a Republican from South Dakota - says the U.S. can’t break OPEC’s monopoly on the nation’s fuel supply without bold policies. He says this act is that policy - giving consumers the option to purchase cheaper homegrown fuel at the pump.

A bipartisan team of legislators in the House has introduced similar legislation.