Schwarzenegger Jumps on Obama’s ‘Proper Tire Inflation’ Bandwagon
Gov. distances himself from what Obama called GOP ‘ignorance’
Two weeks ago, the presumptive Democratic candidate for President of the United States, Barack Obama had the gall to suggest that proper tire inflation could actually reduce national gasoline consumption, thereby lowering our carbon emissions and reducing our demand for oil.
GOP strategists saw an opportunity to pounce on this bold claim by Senator Obama. And they, along with their friend Rush Limbaugh, lampooned and ridiculed Obama’s tire pressure assertion as a joke. The McCain campaign even went so far as handing out tire gauges branded with the slogan “Obama’s Energy Plan” to reporters traveling with Senator Obama. Let me just say this, whomever was in charge of that “brilliant” move at McCain HQ should be canned.
Today several more groups were added to the growing list of organizations that stand behind Senator Obama’s claim that properly inflated tires can indeed reduce gasoline consumption. Speaking on behalf of these groups, and helping to launch the EcoDriving initiative were the Republican Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger, and the Democratic Governor of Colorado Bill Ritter.
The pair were on hand in Denver on Monday (Schwarzenegger spoke via satellite link) to announce a new initiative from the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and the American Automobile Dealers Association called EcoDriving (EcoDrivingUSA.com), a comprehensive, nationwide effort to save consumers money at the gas pump, reduce fuel use and cut carbon dioxide emissions. The Environmental Defense Fund also participated in the launch.
By following a set of subtle and easy-to-use best practices, including proper tire inflation, for driving and vehicle maintenance, the group says a typical driver can improve mileage by about 15 percent. In addition, officials at EcoDriving claim that if just half of all drivers nationwide practiced moderate levels of EcoDriving, annual CO2 emissions could be reduced by about 100 million tons, or the equivalent of heating and powering 8.5 million households.
As part of their national campaign, automakers pledged to reach out to government, business, educators and more. Alliance members hope to engage all 50 states, as well as major consumer organizations, in EcoDriving. “We’re all in this together, so there’s a role for each one of us to play in being a part of the solution to these critical issues,” said said Dave McCurdy, president and CEO of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers.
“Automakers are aggressively developing and introducing new technologies, but it takes 15 years or more for these technologies to become widespread on the road. EcoDriving helps consumers reduce carbon dioxide emissions today,” said McCurdy.
Related Posts:
- Poll: Americans More Likely to Vote for a Candidate who Supports Conservation and Efficiency
- Should President Bush be Telling Americans to Conserve Gas?
- Republicans for Environmental Protection: Ready for the Return of the Double Nickel?
Photo: Clemson via flickr under a Creative Commons License
This is so inspiring to see politicians of note on both sides pitching a common sense, take action approach. Kudos to Schwarzenegger for not going along with the shenanigans of others in his party, and focusing more on real solutions, not divisive nonsense.
According to Power Line, it would take 11,308 years of properly inflated tires to equal all the oil folks would like to get from drilling.
Common sense, a political policy?
Lets put the extrapolation into another common sense driving tip regarding tires…
Put on winter tires in the winter. Fuel is wasted spinning the tires driving up an icy hill by millions of motorists each year, this will save all the imported oil from Nigeria,and will save the planet.
(same with chains in the mountain regions)
It is not a platform for policy. I look to my leaders to provide a much larger picture, I realize it was in response to a “what can I do?” question, but it should have been left at that. OBama went ahead and defended this position with an attack calling those making fun of it “ignorant”, the stunt should have been ignored as it did not require a response. What he in reality and by extension was saying was that the Average American who he wants to vote for him was completely without any common sense, a feeling echoed throughout the environmental movement and one I personally find offensive.
This is a throwback to 1970’s policies that allowed energy efficency to increase 30% in the USA after the oil shortage. The conservation policies of today are all like that, common sense things nearly everyone is doing ( which is about the best you can ever hope for )as a part of their growing up in this period. It is like people think that we reverted, stopped making energy star compliant appliances, stopped insulating our new homes, stopped buying more efficient furnaces as replacements, etc,etc.
And frankly all started driving on deflated tires.
This is completely untrue and is really another example of green math at work. While it was an answer for a political stage, it really shows a lack of historical perspective from a “CHANGE” candidate.
My answer would have been to make sure to do all the energy saving things we learned as children, turn out the lights, keep our vehicles maintained, do not run the hot water, the things your parents scolded you for as a child was to save them money on energy which equates to efficency. Everyone knows what they are and the opening for attack from the other side is not there.
He could have also followed Gore’s only idea of merit and encourage people to invest in alternative energy companies ( of your choice not Al Gore’s )to help them research and develop solutions and maybe even make some money for yourself, which he would then tax the heck out of.
Daryl-
I think you make a valid point. But as you also seem to hint at, this is not a policy proposal in itself, despite what the McCain camp tried to make it sound like. If the Republicans are all about personal freedoms and responsibility, you would think they would jump all over something like this as a positive step, not a negative one.
I wish these suggestions were common sense things that nearly everyone is doing, but I’m afraid they’re not. I am not at all offended by a suggestion that properly inflated tires can increase fuel efficiency, it is just leadership of another flavor. And frankly, I welcome it much more than the type of leadership that tells me I should go shopping more.
And as to your suggestion about investing in cleantech, while that is a great idea, it is not an option for millions of American families who are living paycheck to paycheck as it is. Why echo the sentiment of Gore, when the broader strategy has to include all of these things?
“According to Power Line, it would take 11,308 years of properly inflated tires to equal all the oil folks would like to get from drilling”
that wasn’t the point. the point was that properly inflated tires would save you more money in fuel than the lift of the offshore drilling ban could bring down gas prices as all of our reserves only amount to 3% of the world supply.
this is why obama will lose. most Americans are idiots. they don’t do their homework and they can comprehend complicated ideas. no issues are black and white and most Americans can’t wrap they head around nuanced arguments. if it isn’t a sound bite than it doesn’t exist. we’re all screwed. Its time to bomb Iran and watch fuel hit $10 a gallon as we create another 10 million terrorists, give up our civil liberties and watch all of our allies burn our flag.
No Daryl, that’s not what I was referring to. I was referring to this site http://ecodrivingusa.com/, mentioned in the article.
PS I love when people like Daryl make huge leaps that one statement regarding a specific group of people (the tire pressure brigade) is also somehow also about the entirety of Republican voters. Sorry, not buying into that. And neither should you, Daryl.
By the way, seen these interesting people? http://www.republicansforobama.org/
I wonder if the Straight Talk Express has had its tires checked lately?
The first line was meant as sarcasm. Hence the Question Mark.
For some reason this was taken not as a critque of the exchange but as an Republican position statement. I never once stated my political party, I referred to all American Voters regardless of party.
I think the Republican response was silly and did not require the attention that Obama gave to it. I then provided an answer to the town hall style question that would have been better worded for political benefit.
Next my critque was that there seems to be impression that all Americans have no common sense when talking about energy and environmental issues. We see green math everywhere, if we all do X we will save y! This was a case of that, the response to the stunt was to insult anyone who thought it was a rather condecending answer to an important issue, not just those who made fun of it, and follow it up with an equally incorrect statement regarding the effect of following the advice.
I never disagreed with the original statement as it is common sense, just like mine regarding winter tires is also common sense (except the Nigeria part, which is the point that gets me to the next part).
Not all Americans drive in winter conditions, not all Americans do not change there tires in the winter.
Lets clear the air, only about 25% of US drivers are estimated to not maintain tire pressure. Correct tire pressure is ESTIMATED to add 3% to fuel efficency per vehicle. While this number is large based on the fleet size it is nowhere near the 3% overall savings in imported oil claimed.
New Scientist March 2007
So my point is 75% of drivers have common sense, and the inference is that all drivers do not, so I find it insulting to state that all Americans are common sense deficient, and are adding 3% to our oil demand because they do not check their tire pressure. (Regardless of political party)
Paul you seem like a smart gut so did you know you should check your tire pressure? Change to winter tires if you live where there is winter? Rotate and balance your tires every year? Check for uneven tire wear?
Do you think if you asked what can I do and are told to do something you are already doing would you not find it a little condecending?
The ecoDriving website additionally is just a common sense energy-saving camapign site, where these types of common-sense items should be promoted, again nothing here is new, it is all from the 1970s wrapped up in a fancy multimedia wrapper. That is the condecending attitiude of environmental conservation movements, like it is new and never been promoted before.
What Obama actually said was that if people properly inflated their tires, it would replace all the oil we could get from new drilling. That is completely ridiculous! People are looking for action so this nation can meet its energy needs, and Obama’s answer is to, once again, blame the ignorant US people.
Arnold is an idiot.