Word: gas
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...first big green move of his Administration by simply getting out of the way. Speaking from the White House, the President on Monday announced that he was directing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to reconsider an application by California and 13 other states to set stricter limits on greenhouse-gas emissions from cars and trucks, opening the way for tighter fuel efficiency standards nationwide. Obama is also directing the Department of Transportation to issue guidelines that will ensure the U.S. auto fleet reaches an average fuel economy of 35 miles per gallon (m.p.g.) by 2020 at the latest. Together...
...environmentalists, who cheered Obama's new policies even before they were official, the White House's reversal on the California waiver request was particularly sweet. In 2002 California passed regulations that would require automobile manufacturers to cut greenhouse-gas emissions from their vehicles by nearly a third between 2009 and 2016 - effectively resulting in a fuel economy standard of 36 m.p.g. That would have been a significantly tougher standard than the federal rules (the 2007 Energy Act did require corporate average fuel economy [CAFE] to approach that figure, but not until 2020). California requested a waiver for its own tough...
...expect the Obama Administration to push the country in that direction. (As a Senator, Obama called for fuel economy to rise to 40 m.p.g.) Although automakers say the cost of building more efficient cars will be passed on to consumers, California's Air Resources Board has found that, as gas bills fall with cleaner cars, the average low-income household could save about $300 a year under the state's regulations. "Allowing California and other states to aggressively reduce their own harmful vehicle tailpipe emissions would be a historic win for clean air and for millions of Americans who want...
...heels of President Obama's announcement that he would ask the EPA to reconsider applications from 14 states attempting to set stricter greenhouse gas-emissions standards, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton named another member to what some have recently dubbed Obama's green team. Todd Stern, a longtime friend and adviser to both Hillary and former President Bill Clinton, has held positions in government and in private law practices where he has advised on issues ranging from global warming to anti-money laundering methods. Many see his appointment as further evidence that the Obama Administration is serious about addressing...
...many more rules remain on the books. They include regulations that allow mountaintop-removal mining projects to pollute streambeds with leftover dirt, and a Bush move to begin to permit drilling for oil and gas on the Outer Continental Shelf. Worse, they also include a drastic weakening of the Endangered Species Act, allowing federal agencies to bypass expert advice from federal scientists on whether proposed projects would have an impact on endangered species, essentially cutting the heart out of the act. "The number of regulations where the Bush Administration succeeded far outnumbered the ones where they failed," says Walke...