Obama to announce historic cuts in commercial vehicle emissions
The US Government is expected to make an announcement on Tuesday (09/08/11) regarding the first ever fuel efficiency and emissions standards for commercial vehicles, anticipated to save owners USD$50 billion in fuel costs over the next four years.
The US Government is expected to make an announcement on Tuesday (09/08/11) regarding the first ever fuel efficiency and emissions standards for commercial vehicles, anticipated to save owners USD$50 billion in fuel costs over the next four years.
According to senior officials within the Obama administration, the standards is reported to save the US approximately 530 million barrels in oil over the same period commencing in 2014.
"Increasing efficiency standards over the last 30 years has not been something that our country has particularly excelled at, but it has been a priority of the Obama administration to move forward with aggressive new standards," a US representative said to Reuters in a telephone news conference.
The program for commercial vehicles is part of the US's goal to reduce the nation's dependency on foreign oil by 2025, with the announcement arriving a week after President Barack Obama declared aggressive fuel economy standards for personal vehicles.
The standards for commercial trucks and cars will apply to vehicles divided into three categories, and to all models made between 2014 and 2018. By 2018 long-haul freights will be required to reduce fuel consumption and carbon emissions by 23 per cent. Trade vehicles will reduce consumption and emissions by 9 per cent. Regulations for heavy trucks and vans will be different based on the type of fuel input – namely petrol and diesel.
Long-haul freights are projected to haul 14 billion tonnes of goods country-country by 2018, compared with 11 billion tonnes in 2006, according to industry figures. Officials have said the implementation and compliance costs to the commercial automotive industry are negligible, citing businesses will be eligible to receive monetary incentives from the government for emission credits gained from using clean technology.
It has been reported that the measure to reduce fuel consumption and carbon emissions is heavily supported by the commercial auto industry. The announcement will be made by President Obama in front of auto industry executives and employees. Expected to attend the event on are truck manufacturers Daimler AG, Chrysler and General Motors, amongst others.
Article by Diva Rodriguez | Climate Action