New Fuel Limits by 2016?
Politico.com is reporting that Obama plans to announce a national Fuel-Economy and Greenhouse Gas standard for automobiles that will finally get everyone on the same page.
This is something that Bush had promised to do, even going as far as citing a federal regulation as a reason that individual states couldn’t up their own auto emission standards… but he never seemed to get ’round to setting the numbers. The announcement, set to go public tomorrow (according to the Politico.com source, and now NPR) will have the backing of many of the industries big movers and shakers. Arnold Schwarzenegger is planning on attending the event, a big deal when one considers that California was leading the charge against Bush’s EPA to get the ability to set higher standards themselves. Hopefully, this means that the 13 states and D.C. legislation can go by the wayside, and we can get down to the business of actually building better more efficient cars.
From NPR’s story:
Officials said Tuesday’s announcement moves toward the 30 percent goal by 2016, starting with model years 2011 and beyond.
Obama’s move also would effectively end litigation between states and automakers, who sought to block state-specific rules. The new federal rules would prompt automakers to drop their lawsuit. Two car companies that have been part of the litigation — General Motors and Chrysler — have received billions in government loans during a dramatic downturn in car sales and weakened economy.
Sounds like things have been happening behind the scenes (isn’t that always the sense you get from Obama? “Look over there at the abortion issue while I get things done over here”):
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.
Perhaps we are reaping the rewards of the Socialism of the Car Industry faster then we all thought possible!
Image from flickr user: Guilherme Kardel under Creative Commons License
