Tech | October 12, 2011 | 39 comments

[Obama Delivers on] Efficient Vehicles: A Better Way to Go

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coolplanet
http://www.nwf.org/News-and-Magazines/National-Wildlife/News-and-Views/Archives/...

October/November 2011 National Wildlife Federation Magazine


IN A TRULY SIGNIFICANT national commitment to curb greenhouse gases, the Obama administration, a labor union and key auto manufacturers including Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Toyota, Honda and Hyundai have joined with the state of California to reach a critical deal requiring passenger vehicles to average 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. Also announced—and broadly agreed upon—were the first ever standards for heavy duty trucks that will reduce their fuel use by 10 to 20 percent by 2018. Currently, more than 30 percent of fossil-fuel carbon dioxide emissions in this country come from petroleum that is used mainly by the transportation sector.

NWF supports these agreements because they mean passenger cars and light trucks built in 2025 will emit about 50 percent less carbon pollution than cars today and heavy trucks will reduce their carbon emissions significantly. These landmark White House agreements came about through responsible negotiations with automakers, environmentalists and labor unions. While we did not get the full 60 mpg for which we had called these standards will make a very significant dent in tailpipe pollution. And we will continue to work with all the parties to speed innovation in cars and trucks.

According to the Union of Concern Scientists, the latest passenger vehicle agreement will cut carbon pollution by more than 308 million tons in 2030—the equivalent to shutting down 72 coal-fired power plants. The group also predicts "lower fuel expenditures at the pump by over $80 billion in 2030—even after paying for the cost of the necessary technology, consumers will still clear $50 billion in savings that year alone." These savings mean billions more being spent at home, boosting our economy locally and improving our serious trade deficit. They also will reduce our dependence on Middle East oil by saving as much as 23 billion gallons of gasoline annually by 2030, which is equal to the total current annual imports from both Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

The many hybrid models now in the market have certainly contributed to improving the nation's overall fuel efficiency. As an owner of a hybrid, I can assure you that I enjoy passing gas stations that I once stopped at to fill up. But standards that cover all cars and trucks mean that we will see innovation and fuel savings in all types of vehiclesÑfrom semi-trailers and school buses to pickup trucks, minivans, family sedans and electric cars.

The final rule for heavy duty trucks was adopted in August. The handshake agreement for passenger vehicles will be proposed formally as a draft regulation open for public comment and input by the end of September. A final rule, if adopted, will be published in July 2012.

Leave it to the U.S. House of Representatives to oppose the passenger vehicle agreement and try to block any responsible solution to a serious environmental and economic problem. In a three-page letter sent to the CEOs of nine major automakers, Representative Darrell Issa (R-California), chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said the committee "has begun an investigation into the nature of the negotiations." He added that the deal appears "to have been negotiated in secret, outside the scope of law, with potentially significant negative impacts for consumers."

The Obama administration has estimated that, under the plan, consumers will save $1.7 trillion at the pump. It appears that the only "significant negative impact" will be to big oil interests that have made record profits in recent years and pocketed many billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidizes, and their Middle East suppliers who will sell a lot less oil to the United States. The legislative backlash should be expected, since oil interests are making huge contributions to lawmakers who watch out for their interests and protect their tax subsidies.

We commend the Obama administration for working in a spirit of cooperation with affected interests to forge a reasonable compromise with major benefits for the public, the economy and wildlife. We are saddened by all attacks on our landmark environmental and conservation laws, including the Clean Air Act, that underpin these standards. As this passenger vehicle agreement (as in previous fuel-efficiency agreements) will be submitted to a formal rule-making process in which all U.S. citizens will have a chance to voice their opinions, we encourage NWF members to actively participate as it moves forward.

By Larry J. Schweiger, President and Chief Executive Officer
  1. groups:
    Community,   Tech,   Green,   Upstream
  2. tags:
    Greenhouse Gases,  Fuel Efficiency
  3.     
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39 comments // [Obama Delivers on] Efficient Vehicles: A Better Way to Go

  • stupid
    • -1
      stupid  

    • @ justz
      it's easy to sit at your keyboard in your mother's basement eating gmo'd food, drinking soda and watching pornography while dismissing HAARP as something out of a movie. it's sheep like u that r destroying this country. HAARP is a known weather altering device. there are dozens of documents made available by the freedom of information act as well as videos and testimony from NASA and govt officials as to it's existing and functions.
      Enjoy your soda you zombie.

    • 8 months ago
  • stupid
    • 0
      stupid  

    • listen, we are all concerned for varied reasons. we have limited resources. this is a global issue and not just american. we are all wasteful. with that in mind, the global climate change myths perpetuated by al gore hav been proven time and time again to be just that...a myth. listen, i agree we should be concerned but the scare tactics of global warming has got stop. you r giving too much credit to a false science. do you have any idea how much money elitist's like al gore have made off of the "boogeyman" global warming? billions...yes billions. and you get upset because a CEO for some bank gets a $50million bonus??? common now. The elitists want a national/global carbon tax. they want a tax based on how many miles you drive. do you think they give a care about resources? R most important resource is water but what is being done about that. In 20 years, experts believe lake tahoe will be dried up and that supports the better part of Nevada. we pat ourselves on the back because we drive an efficient prius and act like we are not polluting.
      Look the fact of the matter is this, HAARP technology is being used to manipulate climate (Fukashima, Katrina). Look is up. Located in Alaska. GOvt scientists even admit it can be used for climate change. same old tactic...create a negative scenario, scare the people and sooner or later, they will do what you say out of fear when all they want is too further tax you.
      look, between solar power and electric cars the technology is already there. but, just like the cancer industry, having oil around is just too profitable and once in a while, they will throw you a bone. make no mistake, the technology is there. could u imagine how much money big pharma would lose if people found out there is a natural way to cure cancer. could u imagine how much money big oil/govt would lose if tomorrow everyone drove an electric car??
      these are no conspiracies. the research is there but most are too blind to see and more comfortable on there recliner eating doritos, drinking a beer and watching family guy.
      wake up u zombies.

    • 8 months ago
  • coolplanet
    • 0
      coolplanet  
    • stupid:

      According to the vast majority of scientists the effects of global warming began to be felt in 1980 -- 16 years before HAARP was up and running.
      Most of the power to run electric cars comes from coal fired power plants -- the dirtiest source of energy.

    • 8 months ago
  • JustZ
  • jackshin
  • tverdell
  • artemis6
    • +3
      artemis6  

    • I am going all electric anyway . They have already lost me , and many others , as a "customer" . They had better hurry up , i bet they are losing people by the day !

    • 8 months ago
  • jackshin
  • Anonmaly
    • +2
      Anonmaly  

    • Doubt it, the big oil companies have too much money to give in very much at all....

      They've been keeping things at a snails pace as far as use of technological advancements... Most of which they've buried...

      Even in "Obama Delivered" it's minuscule improvement compared to where we should be at from a scientific standpoint...

    • 8 months ago
  • coolplanet
    • +1
      coolplanet  
    • Anonmaly:

      We were protesting for wind and solar power in the 1960s!
      50 years later wind and solar provide 3% of our energy.
      Perhaps this generation will make a difference because mine certainly didn't.

    • 8 months ago
  • jackshin
  • JustZ
  • ampersand
    • +4
      ampersand  

    • "Obama 'joined' with the State of California?" "forged a compromise"
      Obama claims credit for the balls California has, but he lacks, is the story here.
      I'm sorry, perhaps I'm getting cranky as I age and the planet goes down the drain, but when Obama REALLY takes the lead on the environmental crisis he has been temporizing and compromising on for the last three years I'd like to see a headline like this without his name in a weaselly parenthesis.

    • 8 months ago
  • coolplanet
  • ampersand
    • +4
      ampersand  
    • coolplanet:

      I contribute and I always vote.
      If I can't find a candidate with the audacity and depth of courage to confront and deal with the fundamental problems we face in this country, (someone like Alan Grayson, or Dennis Kucinich, or Russel Finegold,) I'll still drag my ever more cynical and depressed tush to the polls and vote for the wimp.
      That's the math he's counting on.
      The choice between timidity staggering on and being fed to ravening evil isn't a great one, but there you are.
      So relax, my friend.
      Don't be frightened about the election. Be frightened about everything else.

    • 8 months ago
  • David_H
  • coolplanet
    • +1
      coolplanet  
    • ampersand:

      Ever since the 2000 election (the reason for the massive mess we're in)
      elections scare the hell out of me.
      The problem with the Democratic party is not that it's too wimpy.
      It's too diverse with too many agendas.

    • 8 months ago
  • ampersand
    • +3
      ampersand  
    • David_H:

      I'm not waiting for 2016.
      I'm not even waiting for 2012.
      I do what I can, whenever I can.
      Perhaps if Occupy Wall St. spreads to every city in the nation we might have something.
      Until then, I'll paddle my own boat and continue help the handful of humans that I'm fond of.

    • 8 months ago
  • ampersand
    • +3
      ampersand  
    • coolplanet:

      The Democratic Party is a fiction; just as the Republican Party is a nightmare.
      You know what would be fine? Ignoring the fake puppet show and organizing a new People's Convention electronically from Silicon Valley.
      We could re-write the laws to reflect what the actual sane majority wants and bypass the non-working dead-weight of "representatives" who represent no one but a group of special interest lobbyists.

    • 8 months ago
  • coolplanet
    • +2
      coolplanet  
    • ampersand:

      I can't argue with that!
      If Obama approves the tar sands pipeline I will write-in Al Gore in November 2012.
      O what a better world we would inhabit today if he had been President.

    • 8 months ago
  • artemis6
  • JanforGore
    • +3
      JanforGore  

    • 2025? 2018? Still running on fuel? The Arctic will be melted by then. Ok this is 'something', but if we now see the Keystone XL pipeline approved in about three weeks, it will negate all of this.This is what is so damn frustrating. We need a WW2 effort and all we get are token measures.

    • 8 months ago
  • coolplanet
    • +2
      coolplanet  
    • JanforGore:

      "According to the Union of Concern Scientists, the latest passenger vehicle agreement will cut carbon pollution by more than 308 million tons in 2030—the equivalent to shutting down 72 coal-fired power plants."

      This is significant.
      I try to be an idealist but when I read headlines like "Energy Use Projected to Rise 53% by 2035" (mainly from fossil fuels) I'm looking for any hope we can get!
      Coal, gas and oil aren't going away anytime soon from what I can see.

    • 8 months ago
  • coolplanet
    • +2
      coolplanet  
    • JanforGore:

      Yes the Arctic ice seems to be a gonner if we don't take drastic action now.
      But most people in the United States don't grasp the urgency of this emergency, and China and India are surpassing our gluttony.
      Perhaps a catastrophic event like a year without winter will wake us up.
      Or maybe a few large volcanos will cool us down.
      At this point it seems only divine intervention can get us out of this massive mess.

    • 8 months ago
  • David_H
  • David_H
  • coolplanet
  • coolplanet
    • 0
      coolplanet  
    • David_H:

      Perhaps the record floods and tornados and droughts and fires and ice loss of 2011 will sink in.
      I'm predicting that climate change will be TIME's Person of the Year.....

    • 8 months ago
  • tverdell
  • JanforGore
  • JanforGore
  • JanforGore
    • +2
      JanforGore  
    • tverdell:

      That sails over so many heads in this country. I think that is "the" point now. Cars with reduced mileage standards on tarsands oil means nothing. And I bet he knows that. I'm really losing all faith in anything he does and really angry that no matter what he does he is the only choice we have. I do not like being deliberately painted into a corner into voting for anyone.

    • 8 months ago
  • jackshin
    • +1
      jackshin  
    • JanforGore:

      obama's "mo" it is all about jobs. If the legislation doesn't create them in a very real sense then I don't think Obama would ever propose it.

      forcing cars to meet a standard by a certain year sustains jobs until that year

      frankly, the enviornment may not even be an after thought for obama..

      the exception of course to the job "mo" are union jobs like those in wisconsin and usps

    • 8 months ago
  • coolplanet
    • 0
      coolplanet  
    • JanforGore:

      Obama's excuse (however pathetic it may be) is that smog regulations expire in 2013 when the regulations are scheduled to be rewritten.
      He is hoping he is reelected and the tea party is trounced in 2012 in order to get something done.

    • 8 months ago
  • coolplanet
  • JanforGore
  • KB723
    • +2
      KB723  

    • Hi coolplanet, have you seen "Who Killed the Electric Car" I posted it to the Movie Lounge... Check it out... =)

    • 8 months ago
  • coolplanet
  • KB723
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