As goes California, so goes the nation….
Posted by Matt Kelly | Filed under legislation
(Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
U.S. President Barack Obama imposed tough national standards to cut emissions and increase gas mileage yesterday. Saying “The status quo is no longer acceptable,” Obama said new standards would reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil and save 1.8 billion barrels of oil over the lifetime of the program.
Calling it the start of a transition to a clean energy economy and praised by automakers and environmentalists alike, the president said the new vehicle standards will require U.S. passenger vehicles and light trucks to average 35.5 miles per gallon and requires automakers to achieve a fleet average of 35 mpg by 2020, a 40 percent increase over today’s performance.
The announcement also brings to an end a long-running dispute between the government and the state of California, which had been seeking to impose its own tough standards on emissions. As part of the announcement, several lawsuits brought by California will be dropped.
The goal is to cut climate-warming carbon emissions by 900 million metric tons or more than 30 percent over the life of the program and accelerates by four years new fuel economy standards passed by Congress at the end of 2007.
As a result, consumers can expect to see more six-speed, seven-speed and even eight-speed transmissions and more use of smaller, turbocharged engines replacing bigger V-8 engines. Of course, electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles will also have a big role to play including the the Chevrolet Volt and the Ford Focus electric car.
Once again, California has shown it can lead the way and bring the rest of the country in line behind it.
Tags: Barack, Chevrolet, energy, environment, EV, Focus, Ford, fuel, Obama, Volt