Posted on 05/19/2009 11:30:25 AM PDT by reaganaut1
President Obama announced tough new nationwide rules for automobile emissions and mileage standards on Tuesday, embracing standards that California has sought to enact for years over the objections of the auto industry and the Bush administration.
“For the first time in history, we have set in motion a national policy aimed at both increasing gas mileage and decreasing greenhouse gas pollution for all new trucks and cars sold in the United States of America,” Mr. Obama said in remarks from Washington, flanked by officials from Michigan and California.
The rules, which will begin to take effect in 2012, will put in place a federal standard for fuel efficiency that is as tough as the California program, while imposing the first-ever limits on climate-altering gases from cars and trucks.
The effect will be a single new national standard that will create a car and light truck fleet in the United States that is almost 40 percent cleaner and more fuel-efficient by 2016 than it is today, with an average of 35.5 miles per gallon.
Environmental advocates and industry officials welcomed the new program, an accord that Mr. Obama said “would have been considered impossible” in the past.
But they welcomed it for different reasons. Environmentalists called it a long-overdue tightening of emissions and fuel economy standards after decades of government delay and industry opposition. Auto industry officials said it would provide the single national efficiency standard they have long desired, a reasonable timetable to meet it and the certainty they need to proceed with product development plans.
Yet the industry position represents an abrupt about-face after years of battling tougher mileage standards in the courts and in Congress, reflecting the change in the political climate and the automakers’ shaky financial condition.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
0bama should go first. The car he and his family are driven around in use more gas than almost every car on the road.
I’d rather see a giant tax on hydrocarbons, a moderate tax (~$10/ton) on other fossil fuels (coal, peat) and elimination of wind, solar and biofuel tax credits/subsidies.
No cap and trade (where the gas tax is probably hidden), no CAFE. Still, if states want to pass legislation, despite how economically bad it might be, they should be permitted to.
I’d rather have gas be taxed than income. If we can get someone in that will cut spending enough to get lower taxes (including carbon), I’d like that.
For people in noncongested areas that haul little, that hate driving and use it purely as transportation that rarely go over 45 mph, I do not see the problem with small cars (Honda Insight). Hell, a supercharged golf cart would be sufficient (unless you hit something) for these areas.
“The feds and the state can KMA!!!! I have a couple superdutys that will still be running long after I’m dead. If I have to become a criminal and run red fuel in them so be it.”
Woo-hoo! Gotta tell Zero he can SHOVE IT!:) Of course, 0 and friends will still have their Cadillacs;) BTW, how are those put -putting clown cars ever going to pass NHTSA crash-test standards?
The beauty of smoking is that it takes a long time to kill the smoker, so they cost social security significantly less than nonsmokers. The same is true, albeit less so, for obesity.
The government should be encouraging, not discouraging smoking. Obesity is doing quite well without government intervention and should remain that well.
(or else!)
“How will the masses afford them?”
They will be made available to all dues-paying Party members who demonstrate loyalty and do not associate with capitalist running dogs. No more questions, comrade!;)
Didn't you hear them say that you would more than make up for the higher cost of this tiny car by the big savings in gas?
THOSE LYING B'S'TURDS.
No. TOTUS will drive whatever he desires. (Including the Presidential Limo.)
Oh be serious!
He would never get in something like that.
It lacks “spinners”.
:)
There may be an opportunity here for some enterprising individual. I think there would be a market for completely refurbished cars and pickups. Drop your 150,000 mile 2003 Siverado off at the shop and in 2 weeks you’ll get a like new, frame-off resto, -0- mile 2003 Silverado.
I gotta believe someone could put together a production line based resto service. You could keep those things on the road forever and p*ss on the latest tin can from the Obama Motor Company.
What is the English translation for this sentence!!
IIRC, many years ago the Black Robes at Scotus found delegation of legislative powers to be Constitutional.
How do they plan to keep states like Khaliforneeya from defecting in the future & adopting even stricter standards?
Yessir! Obama's America is gonna look like Castro's Havana with all those 'refurbished' '57 Chevy's put-putting around!
The federal govt. has grown too powerful and states rights have languished. It's a systemic problem.
Obama’s actions are part of a deliberate plan to undermine the U.S. economy and freedom. He is expanding his power daily, acting like a dictator. The new fuel standards are unnecessary, but they will significantly increase the cost of a new car, leading to fewer new car sales and loss of jobs. Similarly, Obama’s cap & trade scheme which the Socialist Congress will pass is designed to increase the cost of electricity for every individual, family and business. it will result in more businesses closing and significantly higher unemployment, all in the name of “protecting” us from greenhouse gases. We do not need protection from greenhouse gases; we need protection from Obama and the Socialist Congress.
FACTS: 1) greenhouse gases are not evil, they are essential to keeping the earth warm enough for humans; 2) the most common greenhouse gas is water vapor; 3) CO2 is not pollution, it is essential for plants and humans; 4) CO2 is only a trace element in the atmosphere at 380 parts per million; 5) humans and their activities account for only 3% of CO2 emissions each year; 6) the earth has had cycles of cooling and warming about every 1,500 years due to variations in the sun’s activity and our orbit around the sun; 7) these cycles are beyond human control; 8) about 1,000 years ago, Greenland had vineyards; 9) the earth is cooling now, not warming relative to prior decades; and 10) a major reduction of sun spots in recent years suggests a coming mini ice age.
An excerpt from the March 2009 issue of The American Spectator: “All scientists agree that if man-made global warming is real, it would leave a fingerprint in the form of temperatures increasing with altitude in the tropical troposphere portion of the atmosphere up to a hotspot about 10 kilometers above the surface, reflecting the pattern of CO2 and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Warming due to solar variations or other natural causes would not leave such a fingerprint pattern. Recently, higher-quality temperature data from balloons and satellites ... enables us to settle the man-made global warming debate definitively. The data from weather balloons shows the opposite pattern: no increasing warming with altitude, but rather a slight cooling with no hotspot. The satellite data shows the same result: no increasing temperature with altitude, no hotspot, no fingerprint, maybe again a slight cooling with altitude. Game over. QED. The global warming empire is rattling around but has not and cannot come up with an effective response. The data is the data. The science is the science. Man-made global warming is a hoax developed to serve powerful special interests.” (This was written by Peter Ferrara.)
The auto edict is just part of the picture. Here’s how the cap & trade legislation will adversely impact our entire economy and standard of living:
http://spectator.org/archives/2009/05/02/obamas-assault-on-the-middle-c
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