New Report from Environment Massachusetts Identifies Relief for Soaring Gas
Prices
BOSTON – With gas prices on peoples’ minds this Thanksgiving
holiday, a new report released today by Environment Massachusetts finds hope for
savings on gas in a pending federal energy bill. The report, America Idles,
claims that the energy bill passed by the federal Senate (H.R. 6), which would
boost Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards (CAFE), would mean big savings
for Bay Staters at the pump as well as significant reductions in global warming
emissions.
About the bill and the report, Senator John Kerry said, “For
years I’ve been pushing Washington to get serious about global climate change –
including passing big improvements in fuel economy standards. John McCain and I
stood up to powerful interests in 2002 and we lost, but we didn’t give up and
this year we built a bi-partisan coalition that got the job done in the Senate.
It couldn’t be more important. This new ‘America Idles’ report further
highlights the urgency, and proves that, if we act now, Massachusetts will
benefit in the long run – at home, at the pump, and in the very air we breathe.
We don’t need more of the same -- ducking the difficult choices, giving into the
big contributors, substituting words for deeds, and postponing the reckoning
until the day after tomorrow. We must get real about passing comprehensive
energy policy now. It is the best way to create millions of new jobs, open up
vast new markets, improve the health of our citizens, combat global warming,
save the taxpayers money, restore our leadership in the world, and strengthen
our national security.”
The report finds that increasing CAFE standards to 35 mpg by
2020 as proposed in the Senate’s energy bill, would:
- Save Massachusetts 471 thousand gallons of oil per day in 2020,
- Save Massachusetts $1.4 million at the pump each day and
- reduce state global warming emissions by 11 thousand tons every single day,
which is the same as taking 294 thousand cars off the road.
“Increasing CAFE standards is a necessary and feasible step
in the right direction,” said Diana Connett, Energy Associate with Environment
Massachusetts. “The technology to do this already exists. The standard for the
European Union and Japan is currently 40 miles per gallon. America is idling,
while the rest of the world is setting the pace.”
Environment Massachusetts has joined the myriad of groups
pushing for comprehensive federal energy policy that includes the Senate’s CAFE
provisions and the House’s Renewable Energy Standard and energy efficiency
provisions.
