The Bush administration announced new fuel economy rules Tuesday that require improved mileage for the sport/utility vehicles and other light trucks that have captured a majority of U.S. auto sales.
Speaking from Atlanta, Department of Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta and Jeffrey Runge, the current administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, said that under the new plan, the light truck segment will be broken into six different categories based on weight and vehicle type, with the smallest vehicles forced to get better mileage than larger ones.
Minivans, which are currently bound by federal standards to get 21 miles per gallon, will be required to have a fuel efficiency of 23.3 miles per gallon by the time the program is fully implemented in 2011.
The fuel economy of small SUVs would improve by as much as nine miles per gallon from their current standard of 19 miles per gallon, Mineta said.
"This plan is good news for American consumers because it will insure that the vehicles that they buy will get more miles to the gallon and ultimately save them money," said Mineta.
The current rules, which were last updated when fuel economy rules were instituted in the late 1970s, consider the fuel economy of the entire fleet of light trucks as a whole.
A final rule must be published by April 1 if it is to apply to the 2008 model year.
Environmentalists already are criticizing the proposal, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. Eric Haxthausen, an economist with Environmental Defense, told the newspaper the rules are "woefully inadequate."
1 comment:
You would think that the enviro wackos would love higher gas prices because it cuts down on unnecessary driving. Of course in this case the wacko's think more should be done, it will never be enough as far as they are concerned. Hey it's a start folks and by the Bush administration. These people think you can fix these things overnight, they don't take into account the economy or jobs suffering, unless it's their job.
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