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Loading...Obama Administration: Average Car Will Get 54.4 MPG by 2025
The environmental and fuel conservation community is abuzz. The Obama Administration recently announced that auto manufacturers will be required to increase the average efficiency of new cars and trucks to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. 2025 seems like a long way away (and it is), but this policy is still far better news when compared to what currently exists.
Today, auto companies aim to achieve a 35.5 mile-per-gallon average by 2016, which is significantly less than the new rules. The new rules, according to the New York Times, are set to reduce fuel consumption and cut GHG emissions from vehicles as well as push auto manufacturers to think outside the box and create plug-in hybrid and electric cars. The rules will also improve the mileage of mainstream car models through the use of improved, lighter and more efficient technology.
In brief, the Obama Administration estimates that the new standards would:
- Save Americans $1.7 trillion in fuel costs, resulting in an average savings of more than $8,000 a vehicle by 2025
- Reduce oil consumption by 12 billion barrels
- Cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2025 and reduce emissions by six million tons over the life of the program
It’s important to note that fuel efficiency is a critical component to reducing GHG emissions and cutting costs at the pump, however, it’s also important to increase funding into mass transit systems wherever possible to take more cars off the road entirely. Alongside that, keep in mind that these standards include incentives for the production of natural gas vehicles. The boom in domestic natural gas production may be a driving economic force, but don’t be fooled; natural gas is not clean energy and the U.S. should be investing in other, cleaner technologies as we move forward as a nation.
Related Stories:
Increasing Fuel Economy Standards Would be a Giant Leap Forward
Read more: clean energy, climate change, energy, fossil fuels, fuel efficiency, natural gas, obama, renewable energy
Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may
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OK legislators sure know when to throw shade at the people of OK.
Righteous! Thank you!
interesting therte's nothing wring with having a big healthy kale salad though! :)))
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Thanks Tara for the info.
Vote the republicans out of office in every state at every opportunity.
An admirable goal! How can I help?
Wouldn't it make sense to place an additional tax on engine size - then people will want smaller cars and you will have better gas mileage, and the road infrastructure will last longer.
Why will cars still be using gasoline 13 years from now?
There are already workable alternatives.
Alas, most urban streets will be gridlocked by then, so it won't really matter too much.
This would be a good step if only it weren't too little, too late. We need more dramatic action to fight climate change. Since Obama is going to win, hopefully we'll see more measures down the road. One has to wonder though, when he has recently green-lighted Shell's plan for arctic drilling and he has fast-tracked construction of the southern end of Keystone XL pipeline. What's up with that?
Seems too little too late ... Planet Earth can't wait!
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