Madison, WI -- A new report by Wisconsin
Environment finds that the automobile fuel economy provision in the Senate
energy bill would save Wisconsin consumers $500 million dollars at the pump in
2020, reduce oil consumption by 22,148 thousand barrels per day and
would be the equivalent of taking 267,908 thousand cars off the road.
“Rising energy prices are gobbling
up consumer savings this Thanksgiving season,” said Dan Kohler, director of
Wisconsin Environment. “With oil approaching $100 a barrel, it is past time for
Congress to take action and pass an energy bill that increases fuel economy and
requires renewable electricity to save consumers money on their energy bills.”
Environment America’s new report “Driving
Towards a New Energy Future”, shows that in 2020 alone Wisconsin consumers
would save $500 million dollars at the pump in 2020 and reduce oil consumption
by 22,148 thousand barrels of oil a day.
The savings of the CAFE provision
would be even more significant nationwide. The Senate bill would:
·
reduce our
national energy consumption by 1.2 million barrels per day in 2020;
· save
American consumers $26.5 billion dollars; and
· be the
greenhouse gas pollution reduction equivalent of taking 14 million cars off the
road.
This summer the Senate passed the
first new corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) legislation in more than 30
years. Unfortunately, the House energy bill did not contain the same provision.
As Congress works to come up with a final energy bill, the CAFE provisions and
a renewable electricity standard must be combined with efficiency provisions to
create a bill that would put America on the path toward a new clean energy
future.
“It is time for the auto industry
to make our cars go farther on a gallon of gas instead of making the same tired
excuses about how they can’t do it,” said Kohler. “We have the technology to
get to 35 mpg by 2020. It’s time for Congress to pass a strong energy bill.”
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Wisconsin
Environment is a statewide, non-partisan, non-profit environmental advocacy organization
and is the new home of WISPIRG’s environmental work.
Driving-Toward-New-Energy-Future.pdf