The new vehicle standards, set to be finalized next summer, will give consumers more choices of clean, fuel-efficient models leading to dramatically less gasoline consumption and carbon pollution.

“These new fuel efficiency standards are good for the U.S. economy, our national security, and for the health of our entire planet,” said Capps. “We need to reduce our dangerous and expensive dependence on dirty fossil fuels and these new ambitious standards are the next step in that important effort. They will save consumers money, cut climate change pollution and create jobs by encouraging the development of next generation advanced vehicle technologies.”

In 2007, Congresswoman Capps helped pass into law the Energy Independence and Security Act, which included new fuel economy standards. That law, combined with the 2007 Supreme Court decision of Massachusetts v. the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which affirmed the agency’s authority to reduce greenhouse gas pollution (GHG) from automobiles, paved the way for today’s announcement.

The new standards apply to model years 2017 to 2025 and extend the light-duty vehicle National Program that currently ramps up fuel economy to 34.1 mpg by 2016. Today’s new cars and light trucks average about 28.3 mpg in the EPA standards test. Under the Administration’s plan, the 54.5 mpg target is projected to reduce GHG pollution by approximately 2 billion metric tons and save 4 billion barrels of oil, and by 2025 reduce oil consumption by 2.2 million barrels a day – as much as half of the oil we import from OPEC every day. Additionally, the new fuel standards are expected to save Americans an average of $8,000 per vehicle.

The oil savings, consumer, and environmental benefits of this comprehensive program are detailed in a new report entitled Driving Efficiency: Cutting Costs for Families at the Pump and Slashing Dependence on Oil, which the Obama Administration released today.

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