FUN FACT - Obama led bipartisan effort to raise fuel-economy standards

[FrenchieCat]

In 2006 -

Is the sting of $75-a-barrel oil and the threat of World War III exploding in the Middle East enough to convince Congress to finally boost auto fuel economy? Probably not, but a bipartisan coalition of senators led by Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is launching an admirable new effort anyway -- the Fuel Economy Reform Act.


"It is possibly the best shot we've had of improving fuel economy since the Carter administration, after decades of inaction," said Roland Hwang, vehicles policy director for the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Together with seven other senators -- Joe Biden (D-Del.), Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Dick Lugar (R-Ind.), and Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) -- Obama introduced legislation last week that would raise fuel-economy standards for cars and light trucks sold in the U.S. by 4 percent, or about one mile per gallon, each year. Its sponsors say the bill would reduce America's oil consumption by 1.3 million barrels daily within a decade; that amounts to 16 percent of the current consumption of America's passenger-vehicle fleet of 8 million barrels per day.

The legislation would significantly revamp the structure of CAFE -- corporate average fuel economy -- standards, which have changed little since they were enacted in 1975. Instead of setting one target that each automaker has to meet for its average fleet-wide fuel economy, the bill would allow manufacturers to meet different efficiency targets based on their fleet mix of different-sized cars and light trucks. It would create a range of weight classes for these vehicles, with different efficiency standards for each classification.
http://www.grist.org/news/muck/2006/07/26/fuel-econ/

[Bicoastal]

1. Booo...

...policy issues confuse and anger me.

Get back to the mudslinging!

(:thumbsup:)

[FrenchieCat]

3. LOL!

Just posting why I support Obama.

[LittleClarkie]

2. Ah, positive campaigning. Good to see

:)

[avaistheone1]

4. Obama supports E85 fuel

which is and will continue to create food shortages here, and more importantly in poor countries. It is a poor use of agricultural land. However, it is payback to Obama's E85 supporters who are financing his campaign.

[FrenchieCat]

5. ....

:boring:

[Occam Bandage]

6. Obama is a dedicated leader on policy issues.

[Hippo_Tron]

7. Yea but he likes Reagan

:evilgrin: