Global Warming In the News

By Lori Saldaña and Dan Jacobson
May 22, 2006

San Diegans don't have to look far to see that a national conversation on U.S. dependence on foreign oil is long overdue. Some of the highest gas prices in the United States are posted on fuel station signs throughout the region.

Most Californians realize that quick fixes are not going to solve the real problem driving our energy woes. In the next few weeks, the president and members of Congress will have the opportunity to make a serious contribution to solving America's long-term energy problems. A debate and vote is scheduled within the next week on the one proven measure that can significantly reduce our consumption of oil – raising fuel economy standards.

From our experience with the OPEC oil crisis in the 1970s, we know that raising fuel economy standards has a historical track record of effectiveness. In 1975, despite dire warnings from Detroit, Congress adopted federal fuel economy standards. Over the next decade and a half, the standards led to a doubling of the fuel economy of the nation's vehicles. By 1978, gasoline consumption began to fall. Oil imports fell, too. It would take until 1993 before we again used as much gasoline as we did in the late 1970s.

Since then, however, Congress and successive administrations failed to raise fuel economy standards, and consumption has risen sharply. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, new vehicles sold last year were actually less efficient on average than those sold when Ronald Reagan was president.

A vote could take place as early as this week on bipartisan amendments proposed by Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Rep. Sherwood Boehlert, R-N.Y., that would raise fuel efficiency standards in the nation's fleet of cars, truck and SUVs to 33 miles per gallon over the next decade. The combined fuel efficiency for the country's fleet of cars, light trucks and SUVs currently stands at 24.5 mpg.

Increasing fuel economy standards doesn't mean that we have to sacrifice safety or even be forced to drive tiny, cramped vehicles, as some in the auto industry like to suggest. A 2002 National Academy of Sciences study found that big improvements in fuel economy are technologically feasible and cost-effective for all types of vehicles, from subcompacts to SUVs.

The Union of Concerned Scientists estimates that Californians could save $2.29 billion annually at the gas pump, money that could be better diverted to other productive economic activity. Increased fuel efficiency standards would also decrease pollution from automobile emissions that contribute to global warming, as much as 84 million metric tons annually by 2015. This will go a long way to helping the state toward its goal of increasing fuel efficiency and reducing greenhouse gases, neither of which can be achieved without federal action.

Unlike the energy crisis of the 1970s, the current oil crisis is not going away anytime soon. A growing chorus of experts is warning that the era of “cheap oil” is over. The European Union, Japan and even China have recognized this, and each already has adopted fuel economy standards well beyond those currently in place in the United States.

Making cars go farther on a gallon of gas isn't going to bring gasoline prices down next week or next year. This is just a single component, along with conservation efforts and investment in public transportation toward reducing demand and prices. But increasing average fuel economy of vehicles from today's 24.6 miles per gallon to 33 mpg would be a strong first step toward reducing our oil addiction.

The upcoming debate over fuel economy in Congress is an important moment in California's energy future, an opportunity to retool our nation's oil consumption and establish independence from relationships with disagreeable and volatile oil-producing countries. Members of Congress should stand up for the vast majority of Americans (86 percent, according to one recent poll) who support stronger fuel economy standards and face down the powerful interests standing in the way.

 Saldaña, is a member of the Assembly Natural Resources Committee. She represents the 76th District, which includes most of central San Diego. Jacobson is executive director of Environment California, a citizen-based environmental advocacy organization.