Washington Gets it Right with First-Ever National Fuel Standards for Trucks and Buses -- EDF

NEWS RELEASE

(Washington, D.C. – August 9, 2011) New nationwide fuel efficiency and emissions standards for trucks and buses will greatly benefit America’s economy, environment and national security, according to Environmental Defense Fund (EDF).

EDF praised the standards, which were announced by President Obama this morning, as a giant first step towards creating energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly commercial vehicles.

“It’s great to see Washington get something so right,” said EDF President Fred Krupp. “Thanks to these new standards, everybody wins: truck drivers save money at the pump, America imports less foreign oil, and we all get to breathe cleaner air.”

The first-ever national standards for trucks and buses were just finalized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

They will require all heavy-duty vehicles manufactured in the years 2014 to 2018 to use less fuel and emit less dangerous pollution into the air. That category includes commercial trucks, buses and school buses, heavy-duty pickup trucks and vans, and vocational trucks like delivery and garbage trucks. (The standards will not apply to passenger cars and light trucks, which already have separate fuel efficiency standards).

Over the life of those trucks and buses, EPA and NHTSA estimate the standards will:

• Reduce oil consumption by more than 20 billion gallons
• Save a truck’s owner up to $73,000
• Save more than $50 billion in net benefits from fuel savings
• Cut carbon dioxide pollution by 270 million metric tons

EDF found that the projected daily oil savings from the standards, when fully implemented, are comparable to our nation’s Iraq oil imports.

Today, America’s fleet of trucks and buses uses more than 100 million gallons of oil per day, and emits about 20 percent of U.S. transportation greenhouse gas pollution.

Under the new standards, commercial trucks will need to reduce fuel consumption and pollution emissions by up to 20 percent beginning with the 2014 models; heavy duty pickups and vans will need to start reducing fuel consumption and pollution emissions and achieve up to a 15 percent reductions by 2018; vocational vehicles like garbage trucks, buses and fire engines will have to reduce consumption and pollution emissions by about 10 percent by the year 2018.

More details about the standards and their benefits to Americans are on EDF’s Clean Trucks website. Also, please see our fact sheet about how the new standards will create a business edge for American manufacturers.

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