Our nation's use of gasoline is one of the single largest contributors to global warming - and the best way to reduce our dangerous dependence is with ambitious fuel efficiency standards.
The Obama administration is right now setting gas mileage targets for 2017 - 2025.
Unfortunately they're negotiating with the auto industry who is putting enormous pressure on the administration to weaken the standards, with increased spending on lobbying1 and ads in swing states attacking high miles per gallon targets.
A decision could emerge in the next few days. We need to send a strong message in support of strong standards right now.
Gas prices are too high, oil is too dirty, and the weather is too hot -- right now -- for the President and his administration to set anything but the most ambitious goals to significantly reduce our fuel consumption 14 years from now.
The Department of Transportation and EPA are considering standards ranging between 47 and 62 miles per gallon. Last month, they floated a target of 56.2 mpg and automakers along with many in congress (who apparently haven't yet noticed Prius sales numbers,) immediately cried foul.
For all of their alleged concern for jobs and the economy, auto makers ought to realize that they need to increase mileage standards to have any hope of staying competitive.
Instead, the two US automakers who already had to be rescued once from collapse, are working to reduce their incentive for innovation by negotiating down the standards. We need to make sure the administration doesn't cave.
Small differences in future efficiency targets make a huge impact. The difference between the weakest and strongest standards under consideration represent $370 billion in additional consumer savings at the pump and twice as much global warming pollution kept out of the atmosphere from 2017 to 2030.3
Of course, reducing our oil consumption offers a litany of other benefits as well including fewer oil spills; a lower US trade deficit, 60% of which is due to imported oil according to the Department of Commerce; and lower demand for environmentally devastating projects like offshore drilling in the Arctic or the expansion and transportation of Canadian tarsands oil.
This decision is about the future -- and an American future beholden to oil is bleak.
President Obama often talks about "winning the future." If the President really wants to win it, this is the moment to be as ambitious as possible.
Tell the Obama administration: We want 60 mpg by 2025! Click here to sign the petition.
Thanks for fighting our dependence on oil.
CREDO Action from Working Assets
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