EPA: Yes to Fuel Efficient Cars & Trucks

America’s dependence on oil puts our environment, economy, and national security at risk. Whether it's the scars left by devastating oil spills, the $1 billion that American families and businesses send overseas every day for oil, or the nearly 2 billion metric tons of global warming pollution emitted annually which fuels extreme weather, these problems demand that we break our dependence on oil.

 

More than 19 million barrels of oil are consumed in the United States each day, the majority of this by transportation. Passenger cars and light-duty trucks consume the largest percentage within the transportation sector.

 

President Obama recently took an important step toward addressing this problem, outlining new fuel efficiency standards to ensure new cars and light trucks meet the equivalent of a 54.5 mpg fleetwide standard by 2025. The projected annual benefits of such a standard by 2030 are enormous:

• $45 billion in savings at the gas pump

• 23 billion gallons of gasoline saved

• 280 million metric tons of global warming pollution avoided

 

Opponents of this historic standard, including the National Auto Dealers Assoc. and some members of Congress, are fighting to delay or weaken it as much as possible.

 

The EPA is holding a public comment period in Dec. & Jan. to gauge American support for the new fuel efficiency standards for cars and light trucks. These historic standards are the biggest opportunity the U.S. has to cut our oil use and reduce global warming pollution. We must keep the standards as strong as possible in order to reap their full benefits.

 

Urge the EPA to keep the new fuel efficiency standards for cars and light trucks as strong as possible and to avoid loopholes that could undermine their environmental and economic benefits. Refer to docket ID No. EPA–HQ–OAR–2010–0799

 

Environmental Protection Agency

EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC),

Air and Radiation Docket,

Mailcode: 2822T

1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

Washington, DC 20460

Attention: Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–OAR–2010–0799

Email: a-and-r-Docket@epa.gov

 

EPA Fax: 202-566-9744

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Photo credit: Cedar, British Columbia, 1971, Lois Barber

Thanks to Environment America for its help in preparing this card.