Humans have a habit of dividing history up into periods. On smaller scales, we have our own lifetimes. On the largest scales, we have geologic time and the various epochs in the age of the universe. What nearly always marks the beginning of a new period is a disruptive event that changes a significant portion of the topic in question.
On February 6th of 2003, George W Bush gave a speech in which he touted the benefits of a hydrogen economy. Far from being farsighted or progressive, it may well have been one of the worst examples of greenwashing in our lifetime. The gist of the speech was that we should avoid raising fuel economy standards and deploying clean technologies such as electric cars and renewable energy and instead pursue a transition from fossil fuels to a hydrogen economy.
The US DOT and EPA recently held three days of hearings in Fresno, Dearborn, and Pittsburgh on the Trump administration’s proposal to reverse existing federal fuel efficiency and emissions standards, and members of the public had a chance to comment.
On Tuesday, March 7th, the Trump administration will reverse the Obama administration’s Final Determination requiring automakers meet an average 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025, according to Inside EPA.
An alliance of manufacturers had urged protection for fuel inefficiency in a letter to Trump EPA administrator Scott Pruitt in February, and the industry request is one of hundreds of industry-requested rollbacks in Obama rules that are now on the chopping block, according to the New York Times.
Presumably for political reasons, the US Environmental Protection Agency has moved to extend the current vehicle fuel economy CAFE standards in place through 2025, according to an email sent to CleanTechnica.
Originally published on Gas2. Congressman Fred Upton is the senior representative from the great state of Michigan in the US Congress. He is also the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. During hearings last week, Congressman Upton called for relaxing the CAFE targets the government will set after it … [continued]
As far as I’ve read, the auto industry has fought improvements to cut pollution every step of the way — for decades. It consistently brings in the claim that “this will drive down consumer demand and hurt the economy.” The fuel-economy improvements don’t do that. In fact, US auto consumers so … [continued]
A new study from researchers at Carnegie Mellon University has found that the federal laws incentivizing the sale of alternative-fuel vehicles (Corporate Average Fuel Economy/CAFE standards) could lead to a short-term increase in the total fuel consumption and emissions associated with new vehicles from major auto manufacturers. “Recent updates of … [continued]
Here’s a follow-up post from the CleanTechnica reader who supplied us with “Not Crashing Our Boat — Finding Our Way Out of the Climate Crisis” (be sure to read that first post before proceeding): As I reported a couple weeks ago, US CO2 emissions, after rising for many years, reached … [continued]
As the federal government starts implementing an aggressive 54.5 mile-per-gallon (mpg) auto fuel efficiency standard, the importance of reducing gasoline consumption for a sustainable American economy and environment becomes clearer every day.
