Last Friday the Obama Administration released another in a series of historic clean energy policies; standing with EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and leaders from the labor and environmental communities, the President called on automobile and truck makers to ramp up fuel efficiency standards throughout the next two decades. The announcement not only extends the historic Clean Car program the Administration announced at this time last year, but also sets the first-ever efficiency standards for the trucking sector.
As the Gulf oil spill disaster continues, any step to decrease our reliance on dirty fuels is a step in the right direction. Making our cars and trucks more efficient not only helps our environment by limiting air pollution, but also increases our security by decreasing our need for imported oil. After all, cars and trucks guzzle 20 percent of the oil used in our country and emit a quarter of our national greenhouse gas emissions. We use almost 20 million barrels of oil every day, and improving efficiency is the cheapest and fastest way to change this pattern of overconsumption. The new standards will help clean our air and stabilize our climate, while encouraging new technology and saving us all a few dollars at the gas pump.