Get Ready for New Auto Mileage and Emissions Rules

Published May 19, 2009

WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Barack Obama put to rest today a long-running feud between the auto industry, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and more than a dozen states over the right to regulate vehicle tailpipe emissions.

The administration just formally announced a new federal vehicle policy that will require fleets to scale up to an average fuel economy of 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016. This breaks down to 39 mpg for passenger vehicles and 30 mpg for light trucks.

The new regulations are expected to yield a 30 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from new cars and trucks. The EPA estimates automobiles generate about 17 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.

The White House predicts the rules, which were modeled on California’s long-sought standards, will curb emissions by roughly 900 million metric tons and reduce oil consumption by about 1.8 billion barrels between the start of the program in 2012 through 2016.

In 2005, California moved to regulate tailpipe emissions through a special waiver from the EPA under the Clean Air Act. The state had in the past been granted permission to set environmental policies tougher than federal standards more than 100 times because of its air quality issues.

More than a dozen states adopted California’s proposed tailpipe regulations but faced opposition from the Bush Administration and automakers, which claimed competing regulations would create a patchwork of standards. The EPA ultimately denied California’s waiver request, which led to lawsuits. New and less stringent corporate average fuel economy standards were passed in 2007, which would have required fleets to achieve an average of 35 miles per gallon in 2020. President Obama vowed to revisit the decision to deny the waiver when he took office.

"This agreement brings an end to a five-year legal battle,” Calif. Attorney General Jerry Brown said in a statement. “It means that automakers finally recognize that their future depends on making cleaner and more efficient vehicles."

Members of the auto industry and environmental groups attended today’s announcement in the Rose Garden of the White House.

“The President has succeeded in bringing three regulatory bodies, 15 states, a dozen automakers and many environmental groups to the table," Dave McCurdy, president and CEO, Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, said in a statement Monday. "We're all agreeing to work together on a National Program."

Tailpipe image -- CC licensed by Flickr user cosmic_spanner.

Anonymous, May 28, 2009 - 10:19

The problem of the efficient combustion of the gasoline engine from 14 years in the U.S. is the solution in the form of a patent by Robert Krupy nzwie Firestorm Spark Plug. Automotive willingness to spend huge money on research than lead to the production of candle ignition called Firestorm. I did not expect such on inovation in a rich country such as United States thought that it is only with us in the European Union

Instead of dead last, we're... in the middle somewhere

Anonymous, May 20, 2009 - 15:24

These new, tighter standards also elevate the US out of last place in terms of fuel economy among industrialized nations. By 2016, we'll be about even with China, Australia, and Canada. However, we'll still be way behind Japan and Europe, who have mandated minimums of 45-50 MPG by that time.

This is a step in the right direction, but imagine what kind of dent we could make in our national carbon footprint if we led the world instead of settling for third place?

Sarah Smith

Cisco Queues Up Smart Grid Technologies The networking giant yesterday outlined a new IT solution to make the country's electrical infrastructure more energy efficient and responsive while creating thousands of new jobs....	European Telcos Failing to Spread Green IT: Report An analysis by research firm Verdantix finds that, despite their positive internal efforts to boost energy efficiency and reduce environmental impacts, most telecom companies have done very little to help their clients get greener....
McDonald's Reports on Its Best Green Efforts From Around the World McDonald's 2009 Global Best of Green compiles more than 80 practices instituted by McDonald's locations and operations from around the world, covering all business aspects including energy, packaging, restaurants, food and transportation....	Four Steelcase Scholarship Winners to Attend Greener by Design '09 A competition sponsored by Steelcase, Net Impact, and GreenBiz.com asked students to submit socially and/or environmentally beneficial product or business ideas to win admission to this week's event. Here are the winning ideas....
California Desalination Plant to Be Largest in Western Hemisphere A $300 million facility that can process up to 50 million gallons of drinking water every day has been approved for construction in San Diego, despite objections from environmental groups....	Show Me the Money: Uncovering Rebates and Grants to Help Boost Business Efficiency In theory, free money in the form of grants, rebates and incentives to help businesses become more efficient is everywhere. But in reality, how do you get your piece of the pie?...
Waxman-Markey Climate Change Bill Advances Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Edward Markey (D-Mass.) formally introduced H.R. 2454, The American Clean Energy and Security Act, today in an effort to have the bill ready for a full vote next week. The bill would reduce emissions 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020 and give away as many as 85 percent of the cap-and-trade pollution permits for free....	San Francisco Moves Ahead with Plans to Build 5MW Solar Farm San Francisco took a major step today toward building California's largest solar photovoltaic system -- a plan that would more than triple the city's solar energy output by carpeting the rooftop of its biggest reservoir with almost 25,000 panels....

Alternative content

Get Ready for New Auto Mileage and Emissions Rules