Gas Guzzlers Take Note: Fuel Economy Primed
for an Upgrade
By Sarah W. Heim-Jonson
When the current automobile fuel-economy standards were
implemented in 1975, the Ford Explorer sport-utility vehicle
was barely a twinkle in Ford Motor Company's corporate
eye.
In fact, 26 years ago, light trucks, a category that
includes SUVs and minivans, were used primarily for hauling
and towing, not commuting. Back then, they made up 17 percent
of new vehicle sales. Today, they make up almost half. Last
year alone, Ford sold almost half a million Explorers in the
United States.
"Cars and light trucks
now guzzle nearly 8 million barrels of oil every day," said
Kate Simmons of the Club's Global Warming Campaign, "Higher
fuel economy could curb global warming and reduce the need to
drill for oil. It would also save consumers money at the gas
pump."
The CAFE (corporate average fuel economy) standard Congress
set for cars in 1975 was 27.5 miles per gallon, which
automakers met in the late 1980s - and the standards haven't
budged since. Then the Department of Transportation set the
standard for light trucks at 20.7 - where it has stagnated for
20 years. (CAFE standards are a fleet average, so fuel economy
among different models can vary as long an automaker's fleet
as a whole meets or exceeds the standards.)
Today, due to the immense popularity of SUVs and other
light trucks, average new vehicle fuel economy is at its
lowest point since 1980. Enter the Automobile Fuel Economy Act
of 2001 (S.804).
On May 1, Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Olympia Snowe
(R-Mass.), Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Susan Collins (R-Maine)
and Jack Reed (D-R.I.) introduced S.804, which would raise the
fuel-economy standard for light trucks to the same level as
cars by 2007. It would require that automakers include in
their fleet average huge SUVs, like Ford's Excursion, which
are currently excluded. The bill would also require the
federal government buy vehicles that are 5 miles per gallon
more efficient than the ones purchased in 2000.
In the House, the Club is working with John Olver (D-Mass.)
and Wayne Gilchrest (R-Md.), who are writing a letter to
President Bush, urging him to work with Congress to raise
miles-per-gallon standards for cars and light trucks. At press
time, it had 90 signers.
The new CAFE standards would only be a first step toward
raising fuel-economy, said Ann Mesnikoff of the Club's global
warming team. The Club supports combining cars and light
trucks into one fleet category that meets a 40 mpg standard.
Once implemented, that standard would conserve more oil than
is economically recoverable from the Arctic Wildlife Refuge,
off the shore of California and through Persian Gulf imports -
combined.
Instead of touting higher fuel-economy standards in his
energy plan, President Bush has encouraged "further study" and
proposed tax credits for purchasing hybrid vehicles, which
have an electric motor and gas engine and achieve as high as
70 mpg.
Because only 16,000 hybrid vehicles were available this
year, and only Honda and Toyota manufacture them, tax credits
would have little impact, said Simmons. And there are
six-month waiting periods for consumers interested in
purchasing a hybrid.
And, despite the suggestion that tax credits would
encourage more people to buy hybrid vehicles, General Motors,
Ford Motor Company and Chrysler announced that the president's
proposal would not make them accelerate their development of
hybrid vehicles.
"If S.804 becomes law, these new standards for light trucks
would save 1 million barrels of oil every day and slash carbon
dioxide global warming pollution by 240 million metric tons
each year," said Mesnikoff. "It's time for action, not more
study."
Take Action: Urge
your senators to support S.804 and make SUVs and other
light trucks go farther on a gallon of gas so we can cut
pollution and save money at the pump.
Clean Air Standards Get Smoked
By Sarah W. Heim-Jonson
Thanks to President Bush's new energy plan, thousands of
Americans may not be able to breathe a sigh of relief this
summer.
That's because the president's plan opened the door for the
Environmental Protection Agency to weaken an important section
of the Clean Air Act that requires coal-fired power plants and
oil refineries to upgrade pollution controls when facilities
are expanded or modified.
The oil and coal industries complain that existing
production plants can't be expanded under the Clean Air Act's
rules because the requirements are too stringent - and that
they are preventing the industry from keeping up with energy
demands. Using California's energy crisis as a rationale, the
industries claim they could provide more energy if allowed to
expand without having to invest in new pollution-limiting
technology.
"By suggesting that the Clean Air Act is somehow hampering
energy production, the president's energy plan seems to lean
toward decreasing enforcement or even modifying clean air
rules. That would in turn increase harmful air pollution,"
said Ed Hopkins, director of the Club's Environmental Quality
Committee. "Oil refineries and coal-fired power plants can
expand production and be within reasonable pollution
limits."
Bush directed the EPA to study the "new source review"
section of the Clean Air Act for 90 days. Administrator
Christie Todd Whitman should reveal the EPA's findings and
recommendations by the end of August.
Take Action: Write
your senators and tell them to uphold the Clean Air Act
and "new source review" requirements for oil refineries and
coal-fired power plants.
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