Enduring Earth Blog - CAFE Standards Increased

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Posted by: Brandon	Posted 252 Days Ago \| 155 Views
CAFE Standards Increased - FINALLY!
More than 30 years after the original CAFE standards were set for fuel economy, the US Congress passed and the President signed an energy bill that increases the standards to 35mpg by 2020. It's hard to believe that it took this long to get our fuel economy standards raised by the government, but nonetheless it finally happened. This should be the first step of many more to come that drastically increase fuel economy in the coming years. Unfortunately, many of the initiatives to fund alternative fuel research were stripped from the bill. Perhaps in coming years (hopefully sooner than later), that will change. In the meantime, I look forward to seeing what models are introduced. We already know the technology exists - we just haven't seen it in the US market yet.

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RE: CAFE Standards Increased - FINALLY!

Submitted by: jdavision

Your glee over this passing of the new 35 MPG bill may be short lived. What happens when you go broke next year and the year after when we go into a deeper recession worsened by these un-american rules?

RE: RE: CAFE Standards Increased - FINALLY!

Submitted by: Brandon

Actually, what is un-American is the idea that we can't do better and solve this problem and once more become a leader in this field. The technology is there - we only lack the will to overcome special interests and put ourselves on the track of alternative fuels. As the price of oil continues to rise, the issue will force itself eventually, but I'm hoping that our political leaders realize that a major paradigm shift is upon us and we need to begin changing the way we look at energy and transportation.