Global Warming News

Today, Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR) joined Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) to introduce the Fuel Economy Reform Act of 2006, a promising new bill to make our cars and SUVs go farther on a gallon of gasoline.

With gas in Oregon still near three dollars a gallon, Senator Smith is doing the right thing for Oregon consumers, for America’s dependence on oil, and for helping to curb global warming.

OSPIRG applauds Senators Smith and Obama and the other co-sponsors of this bill—Senators Richard Lugar (R-IN), Joseph Biden (D-DE), Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Tom Harkin (D-IA), Norm Coleman (R-MN) and Dick Durbin (D-IL)—for taking this important step toward cutting America’s dependence on oil.

This bill takes a new approach, directing the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to increase fuel economy standards for passenger cars and light trucks by 4% each year (about one mile per gallon), starting in model year 2009 for cars and 2013 for light trucks. By 2018, America’s fleet will achieve about 34 miles per gallon (mpg). The bill requires NHTSA to implement these fuel economy increases unless the agency can prove affirmatively that it is technologically unachievable, will harm overall fleet safety, or is not cost-effective when considering the economic and geopolitical value of a gallon of gasoline saved.

According to the Senators’ press release, if the 4% per year target is met for 10 years after going into effect, this bill will save 1.3 million barrels of oil per day and 20 billion gallons of gasoline per year. If gasoline is just $2.50 per gallon, consumers will save $50 billion at the pump in 2018 alone. By 2028, Americans will have saved a total of 549 billion gallons of gasoline and cut global warming pollution by six billion metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent.

This bill comes in the wake of a new report released by the Environmental Protection Agency on July 17, showing that model year 2006 cars and light trucks averaged only 21 mpg, the same as in 1983 and 1984 and 5% lower than the peak of 22.1 mpg achieved in 1987 and 1988.

The good news is that the technology is available today to meet and exceed the targets set in the bill.  In 2002, the National Academy of Sciences concluded that automakers could use a combination of existing and emerging technologies to achieve 37 mpg within 10-15 years while improving safety and maintaining performance.  The Union of Concerned Scientists has shown that with more aggressive use of high-strength, lighter-weight materials, we could hit the 40 mpg mark in 10 years.

We applaud Senators Smith and Obama for their leadership on this issue and urge all Senators to co-sponsor and support this new legislation.