Enviro groups push Obama for 60 mpg fuel efficiency standard
Thursday, September 09, 2010 at 2:03 pm
- 3 Comments
A coalition of 19 environmental groups sent a letter (pdf) to President Obama today encouraging him to require that cars made after 2025 meet a 60 mile-per-gallon fuel efficiency standard.
Natural Resources Defense Council Executive Director Peter Lehner, in a blog today, said this goal is achievable.
We can achieve 60 mpg by 2025 using and improving on technologies that already exist such as hybrid electric cars. And, of course, we have the know-how to do it without compromising affordability, safety, or consumer choices.
And he says new standards will help reduce the country’s dependence on foreign oil:
Not only will they save drivers money at the pump and make America’s car industry more competitive, but they will also dramatically reduce our need for foreign oil and cut down on global warming pollution. By 2030, it will cut our oil consumption by 49 billion gallons per year and more than 535 million metric tons of carbon pollution.
The letter comes as the Obama administration is expected to release new fuel efficiency rules later this month.
3 Comments
Comment posted September 9, 2010 @ 8:17 pm
The US would have been there by now if not for Reagan and the Detroit automakers building lot of SUV’s and Vans to exploit the “light truck” loophole in the Clean Air Act. Chevy was making Novas in 1986-1987 which got 35-40+ mpg highway. Then they suddenly stopped making them in 1990, just when the SUV/Van craze hit.
Comment posted September 12, 2010 @ 5:35 pm
Definition of IRRESPONSIBLE
: not responsible: as
a : not answerable to higher authority
b : said or done with no sense of responsibility
c : lacking a sense of responsibility
d : unable especially mentally or financially to bear responsibility
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/irresponsible
Businesses are technically responsible only to their owners/investors. Functionally, corporations are typically responsible only to those who exert real control.
Within all other contexts, including the environment, the economy, the future of the country, …, they are the very definition of irresponsible.
Conservatives swear by this irresponsibility. They defend and encourage it. It is their definition of liberty, the freedom to do harm and profit from it.
It is up to the people to demand responsible behavior from all members of society, including “artificial persons” like business entities, and to chart the future of the country. Government exists as the mechanism we have to protect our interests and control our future.
Trackback posted September 12, 2010 @ 6:40 pm
Enviro groups push Obama for 60 mpg fuel efficiency standard…
It is up to the people to demand responsible behavior from all members of society, including “artificial persons” like business entities, and to chart the future of the country. Government exists as the mechanism we have to protect our inte…
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