Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Bush To Sign Fuel Efficiency Bill: BFD

Bush is finally going to sign a bill that requires automakers to achieve higher fuel efficiency standards as well as to increase use (and thereby production) of corn ethanol.

You have to read through almost half of this article before you get to this part:

The centerpiece of the bill remained the requirement for automakers to increase their industrywide vehicle fuel efficiency by 40 percent to an industry average of 35 mpg by 2020, compared with today's 25 mpg when including passenger cars, SUVs and small trucks.
My 1994 Mazda still gets somewhere near 29 mpg even with a shit ton of wear and tear. 13 years later and we can't do better? And we have to wait until 2020?

While on my recent trip to SF, I forgot to take reading material with me to the airport, so I picked up a copy of Fast Company in the airport shop because the cover featured Tim Westergren of Pandora, who I met earlier this year. I loved the magazine, I ended up subscribing, and have been nothing short of impressed. Especially when I got my first copy in the mail and read this article about Jonathan Goodwin and his company that transforms cars into efficient vehicles beyond anything most people imagine...like a 100 mpg Lincoln Continental. Do yourself a favor and read the article. Then ask why we aren't demanding more from our government, from automakers, and from ourselves.

3 comments:

Lazy John said...

We can do better. We refuse to. The only Audis for sale in the US cost $40,000 and get horrible mileage, whereas regular Audis are available all over France. Today, the EPA denied California's attempt to require better fuel efficiency. I'm not surprised; the present head of the EPA is a Bush appointee, which means he's not the least bit interested in improving the environment - rather, he's interested in making money for BushCo, etc.

Real change must begin at the top. We must reorganize our entire infrastructure, and business and government must take the lead. Expecting the average person to risk their safety by buying a Yaris or a Smart car in a city which is mostly freeway is ridiculous (these cars sell well in Europe, where most driving is on surface streets).

Lazy John said...

Here's the UT link:

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20071220-9999-1n20gas.html

Lazy John said...

Here's the SF Chronicle link:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/12/20/MN55U1JD6.DTL