Excellent news in the fight against global warming as Obama moves up the implementation date on U.S. MPG regulations. This is urgent:
WASHINGTON - Joined by an uncommon alliance of auto executives, union leaders and environmental activists, President Barack Obama on Tuesday announced a national program to cut new vehicle carbon emissions and raise mileage by 30 percent, while also reducing oil needs and changing the kinds of cars Americans buy.
"This gathering is all the more extraordinary for what these diverse groups — despite disparate interests and previous disagreements — have worked together to achieve," Obama said at a White House ceremony. "For the first time in history, we have set in motion a national policy aimed at both increasing gas mileage and decreasing greenhouse gas pollution for all new trucks and cars."
"The status quo is no longer acceptable," he added. "We have done little to increase fuel efficiency of America's cars and trucks for decades."
Bloomberg reports:
The plan adopts nationwide a standard proposed by California, setting the first-ever U.S. limit on greenhouse-gas pollution from vehicles.
Auto companies and California have signed off on the proposal, ending their feud over the state’s proposed rules. California’s Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and General Motors Corp. Chief Executive Officer Fritz Henderson are both planning to attend Obama’s announcement.
“It launches a new beginning,” said David McCurdy, president of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, in a statement. “The president has succeeded in bringing three regulatory bodies, 15 states, a dozen automakers and many environmental groups to the table.”
The Washington-based alliance represents 11 carmakers, including GM, Chrysler LLC, Ford Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp.
Obama’s 35.5 mpg standard for 2016 models matches the target set by California under a 2004 state law. It compares with the 27.3 mpg that the U.S. Transportation Department said last month automakers would have to meet for their 2011 models.
A law enacted by Congress in 2007 required automakers to raise fuel-economy standards by at least 40 percent, which would have forced them to meet a target of 35 mpg by 2020.
