Obama to Mandate Rise in Fuel Standards

[Chris_]

WASHINGTON — President Obama has decided to use his executive power to order tougher fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks, accelerating the fight against climate change without waiting for Congress, administration officials said Thursday.

The plan Mr. Obama will announce on Friday will order further improvements in fuel efficiency for cars and light trucks made in 2017 and beyond, and in medium and heavy trucks made in 2014 through 2018.

The initiative comes as the spill in the Gulf of Mexico has underscored the problem with dependence on oil, and officials said the president would cite the problem when he discusses his plan. The order allows Mr. Obama to advance his goals even as Senate Democrats have difficulty trying to pass a comprehensive energy bill that he supports.

Medium and heavy trucks represent only 4 percent of all vehicles on American highways but they consume more than 20 percent of on-road transportation fuels, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists, an environmental advocacy organization. Improving the average fuel economy of these trucks by 3.7 miles per gallon would reduce American annual oil consumption by 11 billion gallons in 2030, the group said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/21/business/energy-environment/21fuel.html?src=busln

Congress?  Who needs them?

They've managed to change the argument from foreign oil to all oil... never let a crisis go to waste when you can use it to push your agenda.

[Hawkgirl]

It's almost at the $4 mark....where is all the outrage from the libs that protested during the Bush term??

[Attero Dominatus]

It's almost at the $4 mark....where is all the outrage from the libs that protested during the Bush term??

They probably think that it is somehow Bush's fault. 

[thundley4]

Gas was only $2.87 here today.

[Chris_]

It's about that much in town.  I was about 30 miles north of here the other day and bought gas for $2.61 at a Shell station.

[Alpha Mare]

$2.69 here. $2.89 in town.

[Hawkgirl]

Oops, I made a mistake...I meant close to the $3 mark.

[The Village Idiot]

And this will likely set aside $10 billion for the auto companies to "retool" their factories.

[thundley4]

And this will likely set aside $10 billion for the Chrysler and GM to "retool" their factories, Ford will get nothing.

fify

[The Village Idiot]

fify

This is why GM and Chrysler "paid off"  those loans

[JohnnyReb]

...and we the people demand a rise in political standards.

yeah, yeah, ...I know...demand in one hand and ....the other hand,... yeah, yeah.

[Freeper]

Stroke of the pen, law of the land, cool. 

I would have thought congress had to do this if it were going to happen.

[DumbAss Tanker]

Hopefully, soon after 2012 draws to a close, all his Executive Orders will be up for review.

[NHSparky]

They will be.  Executive Orders, while typically carried over from one administration to the next, are only effective while that president is in office.  If a presidential successor does not sign off on them, they go bye-bye.

[thundley4]

They will be.  Executive Orders, while typically carried over from one administration to the next, are only effective while that president is in office.  If a presidential successor does not sign off on them, they go bye-bye.

I thought they were in force until another president actively reversed them?

[NHSparky]

I thought they were in force until another president actively reversed them?

Like I said, legally (IIRC) they're only in force for that presidency, but most successors pencil whip them back without any real comment.  There was one in which Obama changed an EO from the Reagan administration that cause a bit of stir a few months back.