President Obama announced his intention to sign a Presidential memorandum that would improve vehicle emission and fuel economy standards, effectively reducing greenhouse gas emissions nationwide.
Last week, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration finalized new fuel economy standards for motor vehicles, in combination with the first-ever federal greenhouse gas emissions reductions requirements in the United States. The new standards apply to passenger vehicles and light-duty trucks in model years 2012 through 2016, and are designed to cause the average fuel economy of new vehicles to increase to 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016. They require that automakers reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of the new vehicle fleet by about 5 percent each year from 2012 through 2016. The new standards are projected to save 1.8 BILLION barrels of oil and about 960 million metric tons of global warming pollution over the lifetime of the vehicles. This is the equivalent of the pollution reduction benefits of taking 32 million cars off the road.
Posted by: Michael Noble in oil, clean cars on
Mar 31, 2010
On Wednesday, President Obama announced his intention to expand options for oil companies to drill for oil and gas in millions of acres of off-shore waters. On Thursday, the Administrator of the EPA Lisa Jackson and the Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood finalized the long-awaited rules for increased fuel economy in cars. When it comes to America's energy security, raising the efficiency standards for cars and light trucks blows offshore drilling out of the water. By making our cars much more efficient, we make huge steps in reducing our reliance on foreign oil. In addition, the Administration must keep up its pressure to have more efficient cars run on electricity or run on low-carbon domestic energy--alternative fuels that come from our engineers, not from our seas.
Another supporter of climate change legislation has now stepped forward - the autoworkers. According to the Union of Auto Workers (UAW), cleaner cars and strong climate policy means more jobs for American autoworkers. The UAW recently released a report prepared in conjunction with the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Center for American Progress called Driving Growth: How Clean Cars and Climate Policy Can Create Jobs. "This study shows that increasing automotive fuel efficiency will create jobs," said UAW President Ron Gettelfinger. According to the study, cleaner cars and strong policy could create as many as 150,000 American jobs.
The wonderful, heart-calming news was that my daughter was okay, with only a bruise. The bad news? My car was totaled. When your work is to advocate for clean transportation choices, what's your next step?
This afternoon, I participated in a conference call with Mary Nichols, head of the California Air Resources Board with clean cars advocates from around the country. She spoke for 20 minutes immediately before boarding her plane to Washington, D.C. for a huge victory announcement on clean cars with President Obama and Governor Schwarzenegger on Tuesday. With more details to come, the Obama Administration has brought together the auto companies and the states following California's lead to regulate global warming emissions from cars.
Dusting off the crystal ball, it looks as though we'll have electric vehicles coming to market in the next few years. Some require owners to plug in the vehicle for battery recharging - either at home, work, or at publicly accessible charging stations like those recently installed in San Jose California. (Here's a link to a related story and photos; scroll down to the January 14 entry.)
One of the most promising recommendations from Governor Pawlenty's Climate Change Advisory Group, adopting the Clean Cars standards would result in significant reductions in asthma-causing smog and greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming, and would save consumers money and reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Fourteen states have already adopted these more protective state-based vehicle emissions standards, and Minnesota should add its voice the pressure being put on automakers to deliver the cleaner, more efficient cars and trucks we all want to drive.
The road toward cleaner cars and trucks just got a little shorter yesterday, as President Obama announced he's directing the EPA to reconsider California's waiver request to implement standards that would require greenhouse gas emissions reductions in new cars and light-duty trucks. Former EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson previously denied California the necessary waiver to implement this important phase of their clean cars policy, despite the recommendations of many EPA staff that the waiver be granted. Obama said it's time for the federal government to "work with, not against, states to reduce greenhouse gas emissions."
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