Yesterday, US automakers emerged from their meeting at the White House with nothing more than empty promises. The companies’ plan to make half their vehicles ‘flex-fuel’ will do nothing to cut America’s dependence on oil, curb global warming, or save money at the pump. Even worse, they know it. The Bush administration’s own Department of Transportation found that 99 percent of the time these vehicles don’t run on a single drop of ethanol. Add in a fuel economy credit for building these vehicles and you get a perverse outcome where the report found that U.S. oil consumption has actually gone up because of the flex-fuel loophole.
Now more than ever, it is time for automakers to get off their tailpipe and get into gear to do their fair share to curb global warming and our oil addiction. Making our cars go further on a gallon of gas is the biggest single step we can take toward saving American families money at the pump, ending our dangerous addiction to oil, and curbing global warming. The technology exists today to make all vehicles – from sedans to pickups to SUVs – get more miles to the gallon. This isn’t rocket science – it’s just smart auto mechanics.
Legislation introduced by Reps. Markey and Platts (H.R. 1506) would increase fuel economy standards 4 percent a year – the same amount called for by President Bush in this year’s State of the Union. Within 15 years, this bill would save us as much oil as we currently import from the entire Persian Gulf. Now that’s a plan worth applauding.