Rules for U.S. Trucks Would Cut Emissions, Oil Consumption

Washington — For the first time in U.S. history, the government is proposing fuel-efficiency standards for trucks and buses, starting with vehicles that hit the market in 2013.

The new rules, if made final, would save 500 million barrels of oil for vehicles of the model years 2014 through 2018, and 250 tons of greenhouse gas emissions during the lifetime of the trucks, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told reporters October 25. With the targeted vehicles responsible for 20 percent of all emissions from the U.S. transportation sector, the proposed rules are a “win-win-win,” LaHood said, because they will benefit American industry, truckers and consumers as well as the environment.

“We have more work to do, but we’re making progress,” he said. “This represents another step forward.”

Earlier this year, the Department of Transportation and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the nation’s first greenhouse gas emissions standards for cars and sport-utility vehicles, and new rules aimed at limiting emissions from factories are expected to go into effect next year. President Obama has said that lessening the nation’s dependency on foreign oil and reducing the country’s contribution to greenhouse gases that cause climate change are top priorities for his administration.

So even though Congress has yet to pass comprehensive climate legislation, federal agencies are pushing a series of regulations that, over time, will have a significant impact on emissions and should help the United States meet its goal of slashing greenhouse gas emissions by 17 percent by 2020, officials say.

The 1970 Clean Air Act gives the EPA authority to protect U.S. air quality. A 2007 Supreme Court ruling held that as part of that responsibility, the agency has the authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, setting in motion a number of initiatives in the past year.



Read more: http://www.america.gov/st/energy-english/2010/October/20101025160922nirak0.9020349.html?CP.rss=true#ixzz13j9K63WA

Photo caption: The Obama administration is extending fuel-efficiency rules to trucks.
Photo copyright AP Images.