The Obama administration today released its proposed regulations to require higher efficiency standards for cars and trucks and decrease greenhouse-gas emissions, following up on the president's initial announcement of this in May.
Right, President Obama meeting with UAW workers at a GM plant in Ohio today.
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The plan calls for a new average fuel efficiency standard of 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016 for new vehicles, which EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said would reduce oil consumption by an estimated 1.8 billion barrels and save consumers more than $3,000 in fuel costs.
"The program we're proposing today would bring our nation a step closer to a future where the vehicles we drive actually help us to solve our energy and environmental challenges," Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood said at the White House today.
President Obama said at a General Motors plant in Ohio today that the plan "creates an even playing field" for the automobile industry, which he said "faced uncertain and conflicting fuel economy standards."
"It's an action that is long overdue," he said in Lordstown, Ohio. "It will give our auto companies clarity and stability and predictability."
The National Resources Defense Council applauded the proposed regulations, calling it "unprecedented" and a "historic proposal moves America further down the road to cleaner, more fuel-efficient vehicles."
Jack Gillis, representing the Consumer Federation of America, a non-profit association of more than 280 pro-consumer groups, said in a statement that the new rules "are not only a victory for the consumer; they are also a win for the overall economy, national security, and the environment."
In a separate statement, Vice Admiral Dennis McGinn (retired) said the new rules are a historic first step toward reducing America's continued dependence on oil -- "a dependence that constitutes a clear and present danger to our national security, economically, militarily and diplomatically.
"Every day the U.S. consumes more than 20 million barrels of oil. In so doing, we transfer a great deal of our national wealth to pay for imported oil, with some of that money going to undemocratic regimes. At the same time, we undercut our ability to speak with moral authority and true diplomatic power on issues related to democracy, human rights, and the proliferation of weapons."
McGinn is the former commander of the U.S. Third Fleet and former Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Warfare Requirements and Programs at the Pentagon.
By dzajic
on September 15, 2009
01:37 PM
Yay!