The word gridlock was coined in 1980 to describe a traffic jam, so it's fitting that one of the Obama administration's most impressive feats of gridlock-busting has been in the automotive realm. The 54.5 miles per gallon fuel-efficiency standards announced today will double the average fuel efficiency of all vehicles on the road by 2025. Not only is this "change we can believe in" -- it's also the most significant measure to get off oil by any U.S. president in four decades.
The most obvious immediate beneficiaries are American consumers, who have long been held hostage by fluctuating oil prices and gas spikes. The new standards will save vehicle owners $8,000 over the lifetime of a vehicle sold in 2025 compared with the average vehicle on the road today. And that's after factoring in the cost of new fuel-saving technology. Little wonder that three-quarters of the American public strongly supports improving fuel economy.
But did you know that these fuel-efficiency standards were also endorsed by both automakers and automobile workers? Thirteen major auto manufacturers, including Detroit's "Big Three," signed letters of commitment supporting strong standards. Who would have guessed four years ago that we would be talking about a thriving U. S. auto industry? Yet, as people upgrade their older vehicles for cleaner, more-efficient models, U.S. automakers are expecting a third straight year of double-digit sales growth in 2012. Leaders in Detroit know better than to abandon a winning strategy.
At the same time, autoworkers recognize that building more fuel-efficient vehicles will both help create new jobs and, by helping the industry thrive, better protect the jobs of current workers. The United Auto Workers, a partner in the BlueGreen Alliance that includes the Sierra Club, called the new standards a "win-win" for jobs and the environment and estimated that they will result in 570,000 new jobs.
Most exciting of all, though, are what these standards mean for the environment and the future of our planet.
Because we use so much of our oil for transportation, improving fuel efficiency is by far the most powerful tool we have for moving America beyond oil. By 2030, the new standards mean we'll be using 3.1 million fewer barrels of oil every single day -- the same amount that we imported from Saudi Arabia and Iraq combined last year. Less oil, of course, means less pollution, less drilling, and greater energy security.
What's more, moving beyond oil is one of the most potent steps we can take to address climate disruption. In 2030, these new fuel-economy standards will cut our greenhouse gas pollution by an astounding 10 percent. By itself, that is by far the most important action any president has ever taken to reverse climate change.
All told, these standards are a high-water mark for the Obama administration, a boon to a key American industry, a godsend to American consumers, and a bold stroke against climate disruption. I'd call that a good day, and Obama's greenest day ever.
Follow Michael Brune on Twitter: www.twitter.com/bruneski
In Munich where I live, we now have count- em. 15 excellent commuter lines extending way out into the country (brake eergy recycling), 6 cross town subway systems (built out over the last 40 years), excellent light rail - low entry - brake recycling. streetcar lines- brake energy recycling, and I don´t know how many 6 wheel, dual frame long, low entry busses (with special ramps for paraplegics in wheelchairs) That helps to slash urban consumption. 2 million people a day ride a least two way trips on it. No faster way to get around. Bicycle paths are built out. (Its faster getting aroud downtown by transit and bike than driving- and finding a parking space.) As a Sr. I pay only 400 euros a year for unlimited use. OI know what real, excellent jurban transit looks like.
But lets talk about energy efficient, automated production lines. New production lines are 50% more energy efficient than ones made in the mid-90s, and use less labour. It pays to upgrade. A car made in Germany has a much lower labour and energy cost per produced unit than in the U.S. I don´t know the last time you were on an automotive production line, but the newer B.M.W. and VW lines can get pretty scary. Kuka robots, kuka robots and kuka Robots. - The paint shops are automated -with Durr systems which prevent paint mist. German automobile manufacturers are all union shops, and thanks to a policy instituted by General Marschall after WW II, they even have union co-management sitting on the boards of governors. (Fancy that, required by a law instituted by a U.S.General.)Every company with 100 employees and more has union co-management here. Ain´t that something. And BMW, Ford, Daimler, VW Porsche group and GM-Opel all have good programs where their employees get a discount on cars they buy.
Don´t be surprised when Mercedes, B.M.W., VW, Audi- Porsche dealerships also offer "aqeuous fuel" retrofits which let them run - 70 to 80% aqueous. States and the Fed government will have to install cell road use monitoring- toll collect systems also developed by the Germans and in use already.... pro rated according to axel weight. Aqueous fuels and gravity field retransformation based infinite range all electrics are in the pipeline. (Literally run off gravity- no recharging.) Don´t believe me. Check out "Stan Meyers Beach Buggy" or "Brow´s gas" on You Tube for a taste of the future. You can install a browns gas unit in your car already and run it with filtered rooftop runoff rainwater. Why complain about 4 bucks a gallon when you can run your car off water?
Let people choose the cars they wish to buy, and let the various automakers make the vehicles they are good at, and stop making the ones that they are not good at.
That way, GM can build the pickups & SUV's its customer base really wants, and Honda and Toyota can build the small and mid-sized sedans their customer base want.
Those who prefer a Nissan Leaf and those who prefer a Hummer will be happy! And GM will not have to waste so much taxpayer cash and company wealth on pushing the Volt, which apparently hardly anyone wishes to buy.
Add these cost to oil and I am with you 100%.
Of course this would drive up the cost of oil so much that most people would start looking for cars with high gas mileage. Like the ones the auto companies have agreed to produce because of this plan.
Given the reality that jacking up the price of gas just isn't going to happen, I am 100% for increasing the mileage requirement. We will send billions less out of the country to import oil and increase employment here in the US.
That said, why not scrap all the CAFE mandates? If you wish to reduce oil consumption and the concomitant "subsidies", just tax gas until it costs $5/gallon. The poor will turn to public transportation, the middle class will choose the gas sippers they WISH to buy, electric or not, and the rich will still get to drive their Hummers.
Everybody wins and we use less oil.
You are not so naive as to believe that the free market was delivering an oil price nearing $150 during the tail end of the Bush Administration, are you? Or that cartel pricing is the same as free market pricing?
Now what?
President Jimmy Carter had solar panels installed on the White House’s West Wing 31 years ago. They were taken down under Carter’s successor, Ronald Reagan. Solar-energy advocates have pressed Obama to return panels to the executive mansion as a symbol of his commitment to renewable energy. The panels and heater will be atop Obama’s private residence in the East Wing.
“Putting solar on the roof of the nation’s most important home is a powerful symbol calling on all Americans to rethink how we create energy,” Rhone Resch, president of the Solar Energy Industries Association, a Washington-based trade group, said in a statement.
The Energy Department said in a statement that it will hold competitive bidding to choose the company that will install the solar systems.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-05/solar-panels-on-white-house-roof-removed-by-reagan-to-return-under-obama.html
I just know it.
We could be 40 years into energy independence.
But, that would have cost Big Oil DECADES of profits.
The GOP is suckled by Big Oil. They are addicted to its spoils.
We are paying the price, in subsidies, in military conflicts waged to protect oil transmission, in climate change and pollution.
Republicans are losers on the energy issue. They don't know anything about research, development and innovation. Because the old system feathers their nests.
Why did T. Boone Pickens dump his plans for a massive wind power generation installation?
Why can't any solar (or wind) producer make it financially without tremendous amounts of taxpayer cash in the form of subsidies and tax credits, or without usage mandates imposed on power companies?
Big Oil is the most profitable industry in human history. Why are we still subsidizing Big Oil and NOT subsidizing innovation?
Why didn't they make it 100 mpg?
And you have the nerve to say "thriving" auto market just a few weeks after taxpayers losses continue to mount....
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/08/22/Obama-s-Auto-Bailout-a-Success-for-the-UAW-But-a-Disaster-for-Taxpayers
They estimate the price per car to be $8000 more, and what of all the Toxic effects of lithium if car makers continue to shift that way, and where is all the electricity coming from? Since no power source is 100% efficient do we think 100 kwatts of power gebpnerated at the station will equal 100 kwatts in your car? So will it be more efficient?
If carmakers use traditional gas engines will they make the cars so light that public safety becomes a factor? Driving up healthcare costs.
Diesel is already almost there but can we generate that much diesel?
This is just another Solydra in the wings. Next he will pump billions into failed car projects.
http://www.doi.gov/news/pressreleases/USGS-Releases-US-Oil-and-Gas-Reserve-Growth-Estimates.cfm