Gas mileage standards too low, too slow

As prices at the pump hit previously unimaginable highs this summer, Wisconsin Environment championed policies that would reduce America’s dependence on oil and chart a course for a cleaner, smarter energy future.

Last December, Congress passed Wisconsin Environment-backed increases in gas mileage. The law requires the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to set “the highest gas mileage standard technologically and economically feasible.” In June, NHTSA Administrator Nicole Nason proposed the slowest and lowest standard allowed under the law—35 mpg by 2020.

Wisconsin Environment called on NHTSA to conduct public hearings to listen to citizens’ concerns about our dependence on oil, global warming and the high price at the pump. In June, Energy Advocate Ben Schrieber delivered thousands of public comments on the proposal to NHTSA.

Senate Republicans block global warming bill

On June 6, the Senate voted 48-36 to move forward on the Boxer-Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act, falling short of the necessary 60-vote threshold and ending consideration of the global warming bill before it came to a vote. Wisconsin Environment had been working with our partners in Environment America over the past year to strengthen key provisions in the bill. In the end, what could have been a solid first step toward a comprehensive global warming bill failed to overcome opposition from powerful polluting industries.

The Senate Republican leadership, backed by their special interest allies and a presidential veto threat, used procedural maneuvers to obstruct the bill, including forcing Senate clerks to read aloud every word of the 492-page bill.

After the vote, our federal global warming program director Emily Figdor told the media, “Faced with an urgent problem that demands action, the Senate passed the buck.”

Credits

Photos:Banner: Jill Battaglia*. Global warming article: Jess_Anderson**; sidebar: staff. Grand Canyon article: Mike Norton*; sidebar: Steven Hockney* Interview: staff. Lakes article: Stephen Beaumont*; sidebar: SeanTheShaman*. Recent action: TheSupe87*; sidebar: courtesy of NASA. *used under license from Shutterstock.com; **used under Creative Commons license.

Editor: Dan Kohler.

Contributors: Jim Amspacher, Justin Boyles, Zach Cullimore, Matt Curtis, Sara Landis, Ethan Lavine, Jenna Perry Leschuk, Jesse Littlewood, Ryan Moeckly, Leana Nordstrom, Brittany Paris, Dan Platt, Nathan Proctor, Heather Shute, Drew Stephan, Jenne Turner.

Publications Director: Richard J. Hannigan.

Design: Public Interest GRFX (215) 985-1113.

Mission statement

We all want clean air, clean water and open space. But it takes independent research and tough-minded advocacy to win concrete results for our environment, especially when powerful interests stand in the way of environmental progress. That’s the idea behind Wisconsin Environment. We focus exclusively on protecting Wisconsin’s air, water and open space. We speak out and take action at the local, state and national levels to improve the quality of our environment and our lives.