As White House Decision on New Fuel Efficiency Standards Nears, Go60MPG Launches Radio ad Push in D.C.

With Radio Ads, Go60MPG Highlights How Strong Fuel Efficiency Standards Would Create Jobs, Save Consumers at the Gas Pump, Reduce Dependence on Foreign Oil

Washington, July, 25, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- With a decision imminent from the Obama Administration on new fuel efficiency and emissions standards for 2017-2025 vehicles, Go60MPG is launching a radio advertising campaign encouraging Americans to deliver the message to the White House that the best way to offer relief at the gas pump is to deliver fuel-efficient vehicles that average 60 miles per gallon by 2025.

The radio ad will run in the Washington, D.C. market starting this week.  The message:  A 60 mile-per-gallon standard makes sense for America … and your pocketbook.

The full text of the Go60MPG ad reads as follows:

"Are you sick and tired of paying the high price of gasoline?

What if there was a way to create tens of thousands of new jobs, keep billions of dollars in the U.S. economy that now go overseas, and also make it possible for you to pay less at the gas pump?

The good news is that there is a home-grown American solution: a 60 mile-per-gallon fuel efficiency standard by 2025.  

Experts say 60 miles-per-gallon would mean 700,000 new jobs in the USA.  

It would make America safer by cutting our oil use by more than we now import from the Persian Gulf.

And, best of all for consumers, 60 miles-per-gallon would mean $650 billion in savings at the gas pump.  

60 miles-per-gallon: it's a fuel efficiency standard that makes the most sense for America … and your pocketbook.

Paid for by NRDC. Learn more at www.Go60MPG.org."

Strong pollution and fuel efficiency standards will save gas-price weary Americans an extra $370 billion by 2030 compared to the weakest proposal.  These standards will also cut America's oil dependence by at least 44 billion gallons of fuel and eliminate at least 465 million metric tons of heat-trapping carbon pollution in 2030.  A fuel economy and emissions standard requiring a 6 percent improvement each year between 2017 and 2025 would make America safe by reducing U.S. oil use by more than we now import from the Persian Gulf region.

According to a new editorial board/op-ed briefer prepared by Go60MPG.org (http://www.go60mpg.org/docs/110719-GO60MPG-ed-bd-briefer.pdf) , automakers are balking needlessly at a proposed standard of 56.5 MPG by 2025, continuing a theme of balking at every major advancement in auto technology from seatbelts to airbags to catalytic converters.  Each of these technologies have proven to be both affordable and good for the American people. (http://www.usclimatenetwork.org/policy/resource-database/industry-opposition-to-government-regulation) The automakers – with the notable exception of General Motors, Toyota and Hyundai - have launched their own set of radio ads through the Alliance for Automobile Manufacturers (AAM).  These ads continue an ongoing misinformation campaign based on faulty data and incorrect assumptions, as has been pointed out by the Detroit Free Press (http://www.freep.com/article/20110719/BUSINESS01/107190343/With-audio-Ads-oppose-stringent-standards-launch-Michigan?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|s), among others (http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/rhwang/automakers_cry_wolf_the_sequel.html).    

The reality is these stronger standards are technologically feasible and automakers are already well on their way (http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/clean_vehicles/Translating-Standards-into-On-Road.pdf) to meeting them.  According to an analysis by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Transportation and California Air Resources Board (http://epa.gov/otaq/climate/regulations/ldv-ghg-tar.pdf), the technologies needed to meet strong standards are well-known, affordable and require no radical technical breakthroughs or high costs

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which are working with the California Air Resources Board, have been directed by President Obama to establish joint fuel efficiency and pollution standards for new cars and trucks. Specifically, the agencies will establish new Corporate Average Fuel Economy and global warming pollution standards, respectively, for light-duty vehicles—a category that includes cars, SUVs, minivans, and most pickup trucks—for model years 2017 to 2025.

Go60MPG is a joint effort of Environment America, the National Wildlife Federation, Natural Resources Defense Council, the Safe Climate Campaign, the Sierra Club, and the Union of Concerned Scientists.  American ingenuity and technology can make all-new cars and trucks cleaner and more fuel-efficient. It's one of the biggest steps America can take towards saving money at the gas pump, cleaning up our air, and ending America's oil dependence. That's why Go60MPG is rallying public support to raise fuel efficiency standards for new cars to at least 60 miles per gallon and no more than 143 grams per mile of carbon pollution by 2025. Go60MPG also wants to see improvements in America's big rigs and other work trucks.

SOURCE Go60MPG