This guy is a clueless ninny -- from his blatant public misrepresentation of the Arizona illegal bill to this little bundle of joy from the New York Times:
Obama to Mandate Rules to Raise Fuel StandardsThis will be impossible to accomplish and still have a safe vehicle with decent performance. There is only so much energy in a gallon of gasoline and the laws of Physics were still very much in operation last time I checked. Streamlining will do a lot but most vehicles are already well streamlined. Lightening the vehicle will do a lot but you either need to go to exotic materials (re: very expensive body and frame repairs) or decreased collision safety. The Turbo Diesels are great -- the older TDI engines routinely get 40+ MPG and are very hard to find on the used market and this is a C.O.T.S. technology used in other places in the world. Also, I call bullshit on that 30% reduction number -- not counting the fact that CO2 is a major plant food and is beneficial to coral reefs and other marine ecosystems (just ask any salt-water aquarist to show you their CO2 tanks). DC has become filled with idiots and mendacious thieves -- time to drain the swamp...
President Obama has decided to use his executive power to order tougher fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks, accelerating the fight against climate change without waiting for Congress, administration officials said Thursday.
Mr. Obama plans to announce on Friday that he is ordering the creation of a new national policy that will result in less pollution from medium- and heavy-duty trucks for the first time and will further reduce exhaust from cars and light-duty trucks beyond the requirements he has already put in place.
Under rules that were eventually formalized last month, new cars have to meet a combined city and highway fuel economy average of 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016. The administration said the new rules would cut emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases by about 30 percent from 2012 to 2016.
The plan Mr. Obama will announce on Friday will order further improvements in fuel efficiency for cars and light trucks made in 2017 and beyond, and in medium and heavy trucks made in 2014 through 2018.
I especially took note of Barry's intent to raise the fuel milage of tractor-trailor rigs, claiming that this would reduce cost of delivered goods for all of us. For every operator, owner/operator or fleet owner, they are intimately aware of fuel costs and every method available for reducing their fuel bill. And the builders of those trucks know everything there is to know about increasing fuel mileage and know their sales rates depend on beating the other guys fuel use rates. So Barry can dictate and demand higher mpg rates all he wants but the results aren't going to what he wants. And as you make the point, it's only going to drive costs of everything upward. Dumbass...