President Barack Obama is looking to get the nation to use cars that run on half the fuel that cars use now and give off half the pollution. “The nation that leads in the clean energy economy will lead the global economy,” Obama said at the White House. “And I want America to be that nation.” With the catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico providing a constant reminder of the risks associated with the country’s heavy reliance on fossil fuels, Obama gave federal agencies just over a year to come up fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas emission standards for commercial trucks and buses.
A year ago, Obama announced plans for the first federal regulations of fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions in cars and light trucks, for the 2012-2016 model years. Those standards were rolled out last month and aim to achieve a fleet average of 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016 which is nearly 10 miles per gallon better than the current average.
Currently Obama is ahead of the schedule he promised as a presidential candidate. On the campaign trail, Obama pushed for the standards to increase 4 percent every year which would have resulted in new cars and trucks achieving a fleetwide 40 miles per gallon by 2022.
By implementing minimum fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas emission standards the government will be taking a huge step towards limiting the affects American made vehicles have on pollution and global warming. It is a well known fact that our planet is becoming more and more polluted and if we do not take action to stop this pollution we will be facing many environmental issues in the future. Setting fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas emission standards is a great start in limiting the amount of pollution caused by American made vehicles.
Also, if we had more fuel efficient cars our dependence on oil and other fossil fuels would be greatly reduced saving the country and consumers a ton of money that is currently spent on oil. If consumers only had the option of buying fuel efficient cars instead of gas guzzling sport utility vehicles they would spend much less of their monthly income on gasoline which would save them a considerable amount of money. With less demand for gasoline in the market as well the price would drop which would also save consumers money.
President Obama continues to push for the production of more fuel efficient vehicle in the United States. With the production of these fuel efficient vehicles the United States would become one of the leading countries in the clean energy economy which in turn would make them one of the leaders in the global economy. When producing fuel efficient vehicles the US will considerably lower the amount of pollution contributed to the environment as well as reduce dependency on fossil fuels saving the country and consumers money in the long run.
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