Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Stricter Fuel Economy Standards Yesterday, President Obama proposed stricter fuel economy standards to cut down on vehicle greenhouse gas emissions. This means there will be a federal standard that is the equivalent to what is currently required of automobiles in California. The current standards are 27.5 miles per gallon, while this plan will require that cars get an overall average of 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016. Some pros of this plan are that these changes will save about 1.8 billion barrels of oil by 2016 and will remove the equivalent of 177 million cars from the roads. It is also speculated that it could help the struggling U.S. auto industry by giving them a single goal to meet. On the other side of the argument, some say that since this takes auto regulation out of the hands of the state, that it is only increasing an already too big federal government. This plan will also likely increase the cost of a car about $600- but this should be made up by saving on gas. What do you think of the new plan? - Colleen [Gov Gab: Your U.S. Government Blog] 10:10:08 AM

© Copyright 2009 Jocelyn Shaw. Last update: 6/1/2009; 10:22:02 AM. Photo curtesy of Marjorie O'Brien