New CAFE standards surprisingly being announced tomorrow. After losing years under Clinton and Bush to move CAFE standards to a level where engineering would be pushing cars to new technologies, we finally have new standards and goals that will be announced tomorrow based on California high standards.
The administration has lined up the states and companies for a joint announcement. I have been tracking the Obama administration very carefully, and had no idea this was happening. Surprise!!!
We are looking at an efficency increase of 40% for cars and light trucks.
President Barack Obama will announce on Tuesday plans for a new national fuel economy, or CAFE, standard for automobiles in an effort to give more certainty to car companies as they struggle for survival, industry sources told POLITICO on Monday.
The administration will bill the tailpipe-emissions announcement as historic, because it avoids a patchwork of standards and harmonizes so many stakeholders, including automakers, state governments, the Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency.
Like the smart politicians Obama and the team are they lined up all the allies before the big public debate to force the opposition into a corner:
In secret conversations, the Obama administration has lined up support from many state governments and a huge array of domestic and foreign automakers, including GM, Ford, Chrysler, BMW and many more.
Here is hoping for:
- Standards for light trucks
- Aggressive changes for passenger cars (we have been stuck at 27.5 mpg CAFE standards for decades with Bush setting the updated target at 35mpg by 2020 in 2007)
You can see how stuck we are in the numbers by looking at the year by year chart on this page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
This is a important change, and I hope the foundation for focusing on climate change legislation desperately needed in our country and the world.
From the wiki:
Cars and light trucks are considered separately for CAFE and are held to different standards. As of early 2004, the average for cars must exceed 27.5 mpg, and the light truck average must exceed 20.7 mpg. Trucks under 8500 pounds must average 22.5 mpg in 2008, 23.1 mpg in 2009, and 23.5 mpg in 2010. After this, new rules set varying targets based on truck size "footprint."
In late 2007, CAFE standards received their first overhaul in more than 30 years. On December 19, President Bush signed into law the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which requires in part that automakers boost fleetwide gas mileage to 35 mpg by the year 2020. This requirement applies to all passenger automobiles, including "light trucks." Politicians had faced increased public pressure to raise CAFE standards; a July 2007 poll conducted in 30 congressional districts in seven states revealed 84-90% in favor of legislating mandatory increases.[25]
Overall fuel economy for both cars and light trucks in the U.S. market reached its highest level in 1987, when manufacturers managed 26.2 mpg (8.98 L/100 km). The average in 2004 was 24.6 mpg.[21] In that time, vehicles increased in size from an average of 3,220 pounds to 4,066 pounds (1,461 kg to 1,844 kg), in part due to an increase in truck ownership during that time from 28% to 53%.
A number of manufacturers choose to pay CAFE penalties rather than attempt to comply with the regulations. As of model year 2006, BMW, DaimlerChrysler, Volkswagen, Ferrari, Porsche and Maserati failed to meet CAFE requirements. [26]
Update 1:
From Mark:
http://politics.theatlantic.com/...
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA) will attend the announcement in Washington. California's standards are very touch, which is one of the reason why auto makers had been fighting them in court. Now, there'll be one standard, nationwide, which provides that all important certainty for automakers....even as they face the task of reaching CA's Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards, which would see auto emissions decline by 33% in seven years, well ahead of the current national standard, which would achieve such a reduction by 2020. On average, cars sold in California would have to run 35 miles on every gallon of fuel.
Nationwide, that means a 40% increase in the efficiency of automobiles. A spokesman for the Environmental Protection Agency referred requests for details to the White House; a spokesman did not immediately return a call for comment. The Department of Transportation regulates CAFE standards.
Update x2: from nyt
http://www.nytimes.com/...
President Obama will announce as early as Tuesday that he will combine California’s tough new auto-emissions rules with the existing corporate average fuel economy standard to create a single new national standard, the officials said. As a result, cars and light trucks sold in the United States will be roughly 30 percent cleaner and more fuel-efficient by 2016.....
The White House would not divulge details, but environmental advocates and industry officials briefed on the program said that the president would grant California’s longstanding request that its own tailpipe emissions standards be imposed nationally. That request was denied by the Bush administration but has been under review by top Obama administration officials since January.
But Mr. Obama is planning to go further, putting in place new mileage requirements to be administered by the Department of Transportation that would match the stringency of the California program.
Under the new standard, the national fleet mileage rule for cars would be roughly 42 miles a gallon in 2016. Light trucks would have to meet a fleet average of slightly more than 26.2 miles a gallon by 2016.