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.
