Tuesday, May 31, 2005

Administration Opposition to Auto Fuel Economy Costing Billions

Americans will spend upwards of $5 billion extra on gasoline this year than last due to poor automobile fuel economy standards. Had the anti-environment Bush Administration tightened fuel economy standards four years ago, mandating that cars and light trucks get 40 miles to the gallon, American consumers would already be enjoying substantial benefits.

According to the report by US PIRG, the U.S. would be consuming 350,000 fewer barrels of oil per day-- more than half of current U.S. imports from Iraq-- if the government had mandated that the automobile industry make use of the fuel efficiency technology that already existed in 2001.

Such a decrease in fuel consumption would also reduce U.S. carbon dioxide by 23.9 million tons, significantly lowering the country's contribution to global warming.

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