FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

September 9, 2010

Contacts: Maggie Kao, Sierra Club, (202) 675-2384
Aaron Huertas, Union of Concerned Scientists, (202) 331-5458
Nathan Willcox, Environment America, (202) 461-2462
Suzanne Struglinski, NRDC, (202) 289-2387

 Recording Available Upon Request – Email Maggie.Kao@sierraclub.org

Environmental, Science Coalition calls on President to Raise Fuel Efficiency Standards to At Least 60 MPG by 2025

Groups Launch National Campaign for Strong New Fuel Efficiency and Carbon Pollution Standards

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As the deadline nears for the Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency to issue their first decisions on new fuel efficiency and carbon pollution standards for cars and trucks, a coalition of 19 environmental and science organizations have urged President Obama to set the strongest standards possible.

Environment America, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the Sierra Club, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) and other groups, sent a letter to the White House calling for standards that would:

• Increase fleet-wide average fuel efficiency to at least 60 miles-per-gallon while reducing greenhouse gas pollution to no more than 143 grams-per-mile by model year 2025. 
• Reduce fuel consumption from long-haul tractors pulling van trailers by 35 percent and achieve the maximum standards for all other medium- and heavy-duty trucks – the first-ever standards for these vehicles.

The full text of the letter can be found here.

According to analysis by UCS and NRDC, setting standards at these levels would save 49 billion gallons of fuel and 535 million metric tons of heat-trapping carbon pollution in the year 2030 – making these strong standards a vital step in revitalizing the economy, creating jobs, cutting the carbon pollution that causes climate change, and reducing America’s dangerous dependence on oil. 

The letter is one piece of a new national campaign to build support for strong vehicle standards. The coalition also unveiled a new website – www.go60mpg.org – and is planning online and print ad buys and public opinion research.  The groups are also tapping their millions of members and supporters nationwide to demonstrate the overwhelming support for strong fuel standards.

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