President Obama and U.S. automakers have announced the latest phase of fuel economy standards, moving to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. This big win for consumers will result in a total savings of 3.5 million barrels of oil a day by 2030 compared to what we would have used before my 2007 law to increase fuel economy standards was implemented.
These fuel efficiency standards strike at the heart of the oil cartel that has held America in a stranglehold for decades -- restricting our economic growth, threatening our national security and poisoning our environment.
For families and businesses that have been punished by high gas prices at the pump, today’s announcement is welcome sign of relief and an indication that in the future America's energy policy will be driven by innovation and technology.
Getting here wasn’t easy.
It took 32 years for Congress to act again to boost car fuel economy standards and consumers paid the price. University of Michigan researchers found that in 2006 cars were only getting about three more miles to the gallon than vehicles did in 1923!
As fuel efficiency standards stagnated, oil imports tripled between 1985 and 2005, ballooning to 12.5 million barrels per day.
It was a national embarrassment. We put a man on the moon and deployed the internet, but we seemed to be relying on The Fonz as a baseline for what could be done in auto mechanics.
My legislative quest to force American automakers to move forward began in 2001, when I offered an amendment to boost Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards – CAFE for short. It was defeated. In 2003, I tried again, joining with consumer advocates to try and bring about a change and save drivers a buck. No luck. In 2005, our campaign continued but my fuel economy amendment once again failed.
Denied and defeated, but never deterred, it took the Democratic takeover of Congress to move fuel savings forward. In 2007, Speaker Nancy Pelosi championed the Energy Independence and Security Act, which included the fuel economy standards I co-authored, raising the standard for cars and trucks to at least 35 mpg by 2020 and required that the “maximum feasible” standard be set every year. The 2007 act also included provisions that required the deployment of advanced biofuels.
Add in the 2007 Supreme Court decision in Massachusetts v. the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which affirmed the agency’s authority to reduce greenhouse gas pollution from automobiles, and the path was paved for today’s announcement. Combined, the fuel efficiency and biofuels provisions will save 5.1 million barrels of oil per day by 2030. The United States currently imports 4.6 million barrels of oil per day from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
Consumer demand played its part as well.
Drivers are lining up to buy fuel efficient cars. The Chevrolet Cruze, which gets 40 miles per gallon on the highway, was the top selling vehicle in June. Prices for used compact cars are up 30 percent over where they were six months ago. Forty percent of Ford F-150s now have smaller 6 cylinder engines – up from 5 percent in 2005. Ford plans to triple their electric vehicles by 2013 and the Nissan Leaf and GM Volt are completely oversubscribed. GM just announced plans to ramp up production of the Volt to 5,000 a month starting next year.
With those sorts of sales volumes driving down costs, it will be possible to shift electric and other advanced technology vehicles from niche markets to top sellers.
But not everyone is celebrating.
Big oil is unhappy. While the rest of the economy has suffered from high gas prices, oil companies continue to post head-spinning profits. However, at 54.5 miles per gallon, the White House has indicated consumers will save $1.7 trillion at the pump over the life of the program.
So it wasn’t a surprise to see Big Oil’s cheerleaders criticizing the president’s announcement, suggesting fuel economy will force people to drive smaller, less safe cars. One simply needs to visit an auto dealership to see that is not the case. Not only has the 2007 law fostered hybrid electric deployment, it pushed automakers to find new ways to reengineer trucks, SUV’s and vans with lightweight materials and more aerodynamic designs.
Ford made their Explorer 30 percent more fuel efficient and is hiring thousands in Chicago to build it. As an added bonus, any soccer mom spending less to fill the minivan gas tank can afford to buy the whole team ice cream after the game.
OPEC is also unhappy. For decades foreign nations, including Saudi Arabia and Iran, have reaped the benefit of failed U.S. energy policy – at times siphoning nearly a billion dollars a day from U.S. consumers.
OPEC has enjoyed playing games with global oil markets, keeping prices high enough for them to make trillions while keeping the United States addicted to their product. Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal admitted as much to CNN, stating recently, "We don't want the West to go and find alternatives."
And Republican leaders in Congress are unhappy. Their “Oil Above All” agenda has failed to help consumers. Even though fuel economy is creating jobs -- 484,000 jobs could be created by the 54.5 miles per gallon standard alone according to a report by CERES -- they are continuing their efforts to stop the Environmental Protection Agency from providing consumers with miles per gallon information. The G.O.P also continues to try to gut funds for clean car and advanced battery research funds at the Department of Energy.
But the American people overwhelmingly support the effort to boost fuel economy because an innovation agenda has always been at the heart of what truly drives America.
Follow Rep. Ed Markey on Twitter: www.twitter.com/markeymemo
Today's already flimsy vehicles would have to be made out of tin foil.
"Big Oil" couldn't care less about what level the fuel economy standards are set at.
The Chinese and Indian love affair with the automobile has only just begun.
BTW Mr Markey any comment on why the Obama administration cut the funding for the Cape Wind Project?
http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/1548
Obama has no way to enforce his ridiculous CAFE MPG goal. He might as well declare that we are going to send people to another galaxy in ten years. It is only words. It will never happen.
In Utah, you can buy compressed natural gas for your vehicle for a buck a gal equivalent about $5 a thousand cu ft same as at home. Now that is another helluva deal for the consumer. Unfortunately in the rest of the country good ole boy T. Boone Pickens owns the rest of the CNG stations and he sells it for about the same cost as gasoline.
Plenty of natural gas be around though as the gas generating plant gets replaced with mass produced nuke power.
Markey's problem with natural gas as a fuel as is that it could be even cheaper to use off peak nuclear power generated hydrogen, to make various gas based fuels. The Qatar GTL plant could easily run on nuke hydrogen.
But still good work on the petrol fuel efficiency standard.
40 of the 50 largest oil producing countries are in irreversible decline. 2 billion people in India, China and Indonesia want to attain Western lifestyles. China sold 13 million cars in 2009 and 18 million in 2010. India sold 4 million in 2009 and 6 million in 2010. The Cantarell oil field, in Mexico's Gulf of Mexico, was discovered in the 1970's. It was the largest oil field discovery since the Saudi Ghawar oil field was discovered in 1948. Its peak production of 2.2 million barrels per day was achieved in 2005. It currently yields 450,000 barrels per day.
The North Sea oil production peaked at 4.3 million barrels per day in 1999 and 2000 for England and Norway respectively. It currently yields about 3 million barrels per day. The U.S. peaked in 1970 at 11 million barrels and currently produces 7 million barrels per day. Ghawar peaked in 2005. I could go on. The hidden tax is the spike in prices and you haven't seen anything yet. The end of cheap oil happened in 2005 as did peak oil production.
"484,000 jobs could be created by the 54.5 miles per gallon standard alone according to a report by CERES" so to build the same number of cars it will take 484,000 people more, driving how far to work? with our illegals that only 6 months of border crossers
the big question is will we have a debt ceiling increase by then, and how do you have time to write this?
1. In 2030 you'll not even be able to buy gas, let alone a vehicle that wantonly burns it.
2. Your reference to prices in dollars is meaningless since in 2030 the US dollar will have long since collapsed Zimbabwe style, and more than likely those few of us who are left will be back on a gold standard.
3. "Insurance" of all sorts will be entirely obsolete in the new economic system that will have emerged.
Revolutionary energy breakthroughs are emerging that open approaches to superseding fossil and radioactive fuels.
Begin with Andrea Rossi's E-Cat. Miniscule amounts of powdered Nickel and Hydrogen from ordinary water are producing a few kilowatts of thermal energy. A 1 Megawatt heating system is scheduled to be unveiled in 90 days.
The first of a few competitive systems has surfaced using the same fuel. See E-Cat plus at www.aesopinstitute.org
Engines can be run on yet another competitive system.
Generating electricity from such systems is already under investigation.
See Moving Beyond Oil on the same website for photos of a prototype, self-powered, solid-state generator. Such devices can keep electric vehicle batteries charged without any need for external plugs.
These cars (and trucks) will have unlimited range. They can sell power to local utilities when parked, ultimately paying for the car.
Accelerating these breakthrough technologies can help to reduce the peril from little publicized threats to the power grid. Both NASA and NOAA are concerned months long outages can result from a strong geomagnetic storm.
Multiple nuclear plant meltdowns can result from grid outages that exceed one month.
Mobilizing to minimize the impact can speed implementation of cheap green energy - revitalizing the economy and generating well-paid jobs.
See the the Aesop website for an overview of the problem.