Obama calls for tougher fuel efficiency standards by 2016

Drawing a link between reduced fuel consumption and climate change, President Barack Obama said Tuesday that his administration will issue tougher fuel-efficiency standards for delivery trucks by March 2016.

Obama has opted to bypass Congress and is directing the Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to draft the new standards, allowing him to put a new regulatory structure in place before he leaves office.

Because carbon was determined to be a danger to the public, Obama has authority under the 1970 Clean Water Act to regulate carbon pollution levels without Congressional approval. The EPA is also required to regulate anything that could be a danger to human health.

The president has also ordered the EPA to draft new regulations by June 1 that will reduce the amount of carbon pollution from coal-fired power plants, which are the single largest source of carbon pollution in the U.S.

Obama said helping these vehicles use less fuel would have the triple benefit of making the U.S. less dependent on imported oil, keep more money in consumer pockets and reduce the greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming.

"It's not just a win win. It's a win, win, win," Obama said at a Maryland distribution center for Safeway, where he was flanked by two delivery trucks. "You got three wins."

Similar regulations have faced considerable opposition from car and truck manufacturers in the U.S., who say the increase in fuel standards would cause the cost of vehicles to rise and claim the changes would have adverse effects on vehicle safety.

Heavy-duty trucks make up just 4 percent of the vehicles on the nation's roadways, he said, but are responsible for about 20 percent of the climate-changing gases that are spewed into the atmosphere by the transportation sector.

The new fuel-efficiency rules would come on top of standards in place for the 2014-2018 model years. The EPA estimates those standards will reduce the amount of carbon pollution by 270 million metric tons, roughly the same as removing 56 million people from the nation’s roads for a year.

Obama also said companies that want to join an existing public-private partnership focused on energy-efficient vehicles will get specialized resources and technical expertise from the Department of Energy.

Much of what Obama announced had already been made public, including by the president himself.

Obama discussed the need for new fuel-efficiency standards in last month's State of the Union address, as well as in the climate change plan he announced last June.

Trucking industry representatives and environmental advocates welcomed his announcement.

"This announcement is another historic milestone for commercial vehicles and the many industries which depend on the efficient, reliable power of diesel and natural gas engines," said Tom Linebarger, the chief executive and chairman of Cummins, who spoke on behalf of a trucking industry group that has worked with the administration to increase fuel efficiency for heavy-duty engines and vehicles.

Vickie Patton, general counsel for the Environmental Defense Fund, applauded the promised reductions in air pollution and oil consumption and the projected dollar savings to families and businesses that would come from more fuel-efficient vehicles.

The increased fuel standards have been welcomed by several large shipping companies, such as FedEx, Wabash National and Waste Management, The New York Times reports. Higher fuel efficiency standards could save the companies millions in fuel costs each year.

Al Jazeera and wire services