Obama is tuning into the world’s major pollution problem by implementing new fuel efficiency standards that will start to take effect in 2012. These new standards show the rest of the nation how tough California’s program already is. Obama is hoping to create cars that are more fuel efficient and over forty percent cleaner than cars on the road today. By 2016 Obama wishes to have the average fuel efficiency of cars at 35.5 miles per gallon; as of today the national average for cars fuel efficiency is 25 miles per gallon.
This is a drastic change that will alter not only our environment but also the auto industry. Car companies will have to put millions into the development of new cars. Is this really the right thing to do when our auto industry is already hurting with a recession? Or do you think that now is the time to act to start saving our environment?
Thursday Night Open Thread
7 hours ago
12 comments:
I think that the new car emissions standards are too little and too late to make any drastic difference.
If the goal of Obama's new car emissions standards is to try and make a drastic impact to lower green house gas emissions, the most effective way to achieve this goal is for people to drive less. In my opinion, requiring new cars to get 42 mpg will not make a big difference in 7 years since there are over 300 million cars already on the road. The new mpg of 10 to 12 million cars are not going to make a difference to the 300 million cars that are already on the road with the pre mpg standards.
I think that with the new car emission standards gasoline should be taxed. Currently, non-commercial motor vehicles are the second largest contributors to green house gases in the United States. In Europe, fuel prices are almost double of that in the US; so, a gradual tax could be introduced on gasoline to meet with Europe's prices over 5 to 10 years.
I think that the Obama administration should focus on public transportation in the US. Compared to other countries in Europe and Asia, the US public transportation systems are quite weak and could be more efficient. I think that if we had better public transportation it would also promote people to take it more than drive themselves.
This plan will certainly help, but as to the extent of that help, I don't know. Eventually our planet will become uninhabitable - hopefully not for many many many many many hundreds of years - so I think that we should not only focus on how to increase the time that our planet is habitable, but maybe look to alternatives. Like colonies in space. Go ahead and laugh, but seriously, the universe is infinite. There has to be other planets that people can go drive their hummers around on.
I believe it is important to protect our environment, but at a time of such a recession as it is now it might not be such a good thing to make the production of cars cost more. It might cause more workers to lose their jobs which will only make things worse. I think Obama should focus on the economy first then make drastic changes to environment laws and regulations.
I think the government is trying to do the most it can to help both air pollution/greenhouse gas emissions and the economy at the same time. All this input into the auto industry may be a part of Obama's plan to improve the economy as well. However, I think the main problem is not the mpg standards, but the actual fuel that we are using. I think that in addition to clean energy, he needs to focus on clean fuels as well, such as biodiesel, solar cars, etc. I think the sooner we can switch the better, regardless of recession. More jobs would be created in attempting to transition from gasoline to other fuels as well, whether it be in research or sales, and by the time gasoline is out, the recession should be over with too. I guess this may be very idealistic, but I think the government can make the switch little by little.
Although i do agree with Ana that it might be a lil' late for all this goodness...it is never too late!!! Esp for states like New York and such, i feel that this is a positive step.
Today while driving on the freeway, i saw this big truck with solid black exhaust coming out of the exhaust and it just went in the air and i felt so sick. i honestly wondered if anybody would ever do something serious about those issues, just imagining all those particles in the air makes me sick.
Not only will this help with the greenhouse effect, " go green " movement but people are also allergic to the particles/chemicals =/
As a strong advocate for environmental issues, I think it's really a great thing that he cares to make a difference in the emissions. Our last president didn't do much, if anything at all, and a lot of people just don't care about the effects. However, I wonder if this policy will be effective. Even though I think these policies are ideal, and these cars would save us a lot of gas money (we're short on gas supply anyway), I don't know if it would make that much of a difference because there are several cars in existence that are the complete opposite, like Hummers and large SUVs. It won't take effect for another... 10-20 years after 2012 when the current cars break down and people are forced to buy the new mpg standard cars. All in all, I'm glad he's at least trying to create a change.
I think that dealing with global warming and the other environmental problems we are facing is far more important than saving the auto industry. Look at it this way: the auto industry is currently not helping the economy (we are bailing it out, and losing money on them, and they have no profits), nor are they helping the environment (SUVs...bah!). They seem to be a large cause of the environmental problem we are facing today. Now, I do not think we should not let them crash and burn. They have the potential to be a huge asset to the economy--they once employed millions of Americans and accounted for a decent portion of the US's GDP. But then they moved most of the jobs out of the US and failed to act on bettering the environment, which, like the article said, is part of the cause of the problem they face today. I feel the best thing for them to do would be to shut down most of their overseas factories and bring the jobs back to the US, followed by gradually stopping production of all vehicles that do not meet the fuel efficiency standards. This would help the US's economy by creating jobs, and it would help the environment by phasing out vehicles with a lower fuel efficiency. Micaela also presented an interesting thought--space colonies could help us reduce our emmissions significantly by moving a lot of people off the planet...
I think that Obama's new fuel efficiency standards are a good idea. Cars and trucks are among the largest sources of greenhouse-gas emissions. The sooner we start taking action in helping our environment, the better off we are in the long term. The new standards are intended to save about 1.8 billion barrels of oil over the lifetime of the program. This is equal to taking 58 million cars off the road for a year. In regards to fuel costs over the course of the new car's lifetime, consumers will spend less on fuel, which in turn causes the United States to spend less money overseas. This will also save money in the long term, allowing consumers to spend more on domestic goods. I think that this new plan will potentially help our economy by creating new jobs and technology for the future. Although I agree that as a nation we should focus more of our attention on public transportation, the new standards are a step in the right direction.
Well, better late than never. I think it's a great plan. A little ambitious, maybe (he may not even be president in 2016). Cars are a large source of pollution, and pushing the auto industry to produce more environmentally friendly cars and encouraging people to buy them may not be a bad thing for the economy. The industry can turn to the development of cars that are better for the environment as a method of competition. Marina, I dont think jobs would be lost as this transition into hybrid cars and the like require much engineering. Of course, the progress will be gradual but Obama's plan can only lead to good things.
the new standards are always helpful and funding for such standards would create jobs to find a better way to make a car, that would help. a little stimulus, part of the huge bailout, would help this recession, hopefully.
i feel that it is a right move for the auto industry because with tomorrow being today's future, we have to start somewhere and sometime to help our future environment.
This is the perfect time because how long are we seriously going to wait until the environment starts getting really bad. It is just something we can not simply just put off for another day. I praise obama for this action and I think he is a better president because of it. The recession will pass but global warming will not and right now is the right time. It will be easier on people's wallets and we will be conserving the environment. I disagree with Ana because every little bit will help the environment. That attitude is like not wanting to recycle and throwing away paper instead. It is just better to try to improv than critique on how bad something will do. I do agree that we should tax however.
I appreciate what Obama is doing to better our enviornment in that he is appropriating new car emission standards...but is this that right time? and do we have the money to be spending on such a thing? I agree with Ana in that the most effective way to curve global warming is for people to not drive at all...or less. However this unlikely this will happen...so for now we'll have to settle on this. and hopefully this will have a significant impact on our enviornment. More people are aware and taking action in protecting our enviornment.
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