Ann
Arbor, Michigan -- A new report by Environment Michigan finds that the automobile
fuel economy provision in the Senate energy bill would save Michigan consumers
$977 million dollars at the pump in 2020, reduce oil consumption by 42,718 thousand
barrels per day and would be the equivalent of taking 516,739 thousand cars off
the road.
“Rising
energy prices are gobbling up consumer savings this Thanksgiving season,” said Abby
Rubley, field director for Environment Michigan. “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
Michigan’s new report “Driving Towards a New
Energy Future,” shows that in 2020 alone Michigan
consumers would save $977 million dollars at the pump and reduce oil
consumption by 42,718 thousand barrels of oil a day.
The
savings of the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (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 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
Rubley. “We have the technology to get to 35 mpg by 2020. It’s time for
Congress to pass a strong energy bill.”
