This is superb news!President Obama is expected to unveil new fuel-economy standards for automobiles on Tuesday—the first major step by his administration to limit planet-warming greenhouse gases.Recall that the Bush Administration resisted this to their last day, using (in part) the lame excuse that it would hurt the auto companies. Now, with the auto companies on the verge of bankruptcy after decades of building gas guzzlers, that argument has had a stake driven through its heart. Now, let's see how well they do financially while actually doing the right thing for a change.
The new standards will reportedly raise fleet-wide standards for cars to 42 miles per gallon by 2016, up from 27.5 mpg now. For light trucks, the required fleet average will rise to about 26.2 mpg by 2016, up from about 24 mpg now. Ultimately, this will mean a 30 percent reduction in global-warming emissions from new vehicles by 2016, with improvements beginning in the 2011 model year.
The move will push the entire country to meet the aggressive standards proposed by the state of California...
Oh, and one last thing before I forget: thank you Barack Obama!
