I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
By 2016, new cars should get an average of 35.5 miles per gallon, according to new vehicle emissions standards issued yesterday by the federal government.
The standards mandate a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles, light trucks, and medium-duty passenger vehicles manufactured between 2012 and 2016. New vehicles will be required to meet an average emissions level of 250 grams of carbon dioxide–the greenhouse gas implicated most heavily in climate change–per mile by 2016. This move will translate to a fuel efficiency standard of 35.5 miles per gallon if companies achieve the new greenhouse gas level through fuel efficiency.
The new rules are a combined effort of the Environmental Protection Agency, which is working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which is revising fuel efficiency standards–also known as CAFE standards–under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act.
CAFE standards came into being after the Arab oil embargo of the early seventies. The standards increased the fuel efficiency of vehicles made in the United States from the late 1970s to mid-1980s, after which the combined efficiency fleetwide actually fell somewhat. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, this drop was due to “…the relative stagnation in CAFE standards prior to the passing of the 2007 energy bill, the doubling of annual vehicle miles traveled in the last 25 years and the increase in SUV and light truck sales.”
A renewed focus on increasing fuel efficiency standards came in 2007, when President George W. Bush signed the federal Energy Independence and Security Act which required automakers to increase fuel efficiency to 35 miles per gallon fleetwide by 2020.
The benefits and costs of the new CAFE standards are categorized by the Union of Concerned Scientists as environmental, economic, and security-related:
- Dependence on Foreign Oil. American cars, trucks and SUVs account for approximately 40 percent of all U.S. oil consumption. Much of this oil is imported and our foreign oil reliance continues to grow. U.S. consumers currently spend $1 billion every day to import oil and other petroleum products. Achieving 35 mpg by 2020 as directed by the recently passed energy bill will save 1.1 million barrels of oil per day in 2020—over half the oil the U.S. currently imports from the Persian Gulf.
- Economy. A fleet of cars and light trucks that reaches 35 mpg will cost about $1,000 to $2,000 extra per vehicle. This additional cost will be more than offset by the fuel savings consumers will enjoy over the life of the vehicle. Consumer fuel savings along with automaker investment to produce a 35 mpg fleet by 2020 will help spur the creation of more than 170,800 new jobs in the year 2020.
- Environment. For every gallon of gasoline that is consumed, approximately 24 pounds of global warming pollution are released into the air. Drilling, refining, and distributing gasoline account for about 5 pounds of global warming pollution per gallon of gasoline, and burning gasoline during vehicle operation produces another 19 pounds of global warming pollution per gallon. Increasing fuel economy standards to 35 mpg by 2020 can cut annual greenhouse gas emissions by 206 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2020.
