Obama’s Emissions Plan Fits Seattle Drivers
January 26, 2009 by Cameron Wong
President Barack Obama made his message clear when he set new emission standards for new cars starting in 2011. Cars will be cleaner and more fuel efficient than ever before. The president will direct the Enviornmental Protection Agency to review whether California, Washington along with other states can impose stricter emission standards to battle green house gases.
The President’s plan would force the production of smaller, hybrid, and advanced fuel saving technologies into the US auto marketplace.
He told the Associated Press:
“I want to be clear from the beginning of this administration that we have made our choice: America will not be held hostage to dwindling resources, hostile regimes and a warming planet,” Obama said.
The change in policy could also make things bit more expensive in the short term for consumers. New technologies generally cost more. These fuel efficient vehicles could cost thousands more. However President Obama believes this is more of a long term fix.
“It falls on us to choose whether to risk the peril that comes with our current course or to seize the promise of energy independence,” Obama said. “And for the sake of our security, our economy and our planet, we must have the courage and the commitment to change.”
If new emission standards get passed by individual states, it would require auto makers to boost fuel standards by 40 percent and by 2020, cars will at the very least get 35MPG.
The President also said that the US dependence on foreign oil “bankrolls dictators, pays for nuclear proliferation and funds both sides of our struggle against terrorism. It puts the American people at the mercy of shifting gas prices, stifles innovation and sets back our ability to compete.”
Lofty goals and high demands made by the new president. But ultimately, it comes to changing American habits. Luckily for Seattle drivers, we’re ahead of the nation when it comes to this.
See the full AP article in the Seattle Times.
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