Posted on 04/02/2003 6:28:09 PM PST by NormsRevenge
Edited on 04/13/2004 3:30:52 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
California motorists can expect wild hikes in gas prices for years to come -- and the state says it's not because big oil is gouging us.
Motorists in the state are consuming 3 percent more gas every year, and that added demand is outstripping the 1 percent increase that California refineries can realistically be expected to produce annually, said William Keese, chairman of the California Energy Commission.
(Excerpt) Read more at bayarea.com ...
Posted on Wed, Apr. 02, 2003
SUV fuel economy standards increased
DEE-ANN DURBIN
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Sport utility vehicles, vans and pickup trucks will have to get better gas mileage over the next three years under new government standards.
The new rule was announced Tuesday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. It requires manufacturers to attain a fleet average for vehicles in the "light truck" category of 22.2 miles per gallon beginning with the 2007 models, an increase of 1.5 mpg over current requirements.
Automakers said the new rule will be difficult to achieve technologically.
"We're committed to it, but it is going to be a challenge," said Eron Shosteck, a spokesman for the Washington-based Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers.
The alliance wants Congress to approve tax incentives for fuel-efficient vehicles to encourage consumers to buy them, since an automaker's fleet average is determined by how much consumers buy. The group says automakers are offering more than 30 models with fuel economy ratings above 30 mpg, but consumers aren't buying them.
Critics said the change reflects no more than what automakers already have been planning to achieve with their SUV fleets. They also say it does nothing to reduce the country's dependence on foreign oil.
"(This change) will save our nation a minuscule six million barrels of oil a year - less than three percent of what we are importing from Iraq," National Environmental Trust President Philip E. Clapp said.
David Nemtzow of the Alliance to Save Energy also expressed disappointment about NHTSA's rule change.
"Here we are. Oil prices are high. We're on the Middle East fighting a war and they squander the best opportunity we've had in a decade to start doing something about meaningful about oil imports," Nemtzow said.
NHTSA Administrator Dr. Jeffrey Runge defended the rule change, noting that it marks the first increase in the fuel economy standard since the mid-1990s and demonstrates that the Bush administration "is committed to improving vehicle fuel economy while protecting passenger safety and American jobs."
For model years beyond 2007, NHTSA said it plans to consider new ways to administer the fuel economy program, including changes to the classification of vehicles and the way fuel economy is measured.
Fuel economy for passenger sedans, which are required to meet a fleet average of 27.5 mpg, is not affected by the new regulation.
Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, have introduced legislation to close that gap between SUV and passenger car fuel economy. The bill calls for SUVs to achieve 27.5 mpg by 2011. That would save 1 million barrels of a day and reduce dependence on foreign imports by 10 percent, they say.
The country uses 8.8 million gallons of gasoline a day, according to the Energy Department.
Is that a typo ? Gas in Eureka today was $2:199 a gallon. I paid $2.109 at a private "card lock". Costco is in the prosess of installing tanks and pumps but I doubt it will help much...
To the writer of this article, not the poster
No Sh@t Sherlock, what gave you the first clue. Rising population=rising gas use. Maybe you could suggest closing the boarder for a while.
This entire article bemoans high gas prices, but "the state is considering attempts to reduce growing consumption by hiking gas taxes and fees!
Gray Davis up to his same ole tricks, I see.
However, he forgot to add that the MBTE will remain in groundwater basins for decades. Yet another unintended result of misguided do-gooders.
You set your self up for this one...Gas would be $.99 in Ca if all those "Mid-Westerners" and their offspring from the 30s returned home. :-)
to=so
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