Maine DEP Hails New Federal Fuel Efficiency Rules

The Obama administration is announcing new federal standards for automobile fuel economy and green house gas emissions. The emissions limits are based on so-called "clean car" standards adopted first by California in 2004 and subsequently by Maine and 13 other states.

The group Environment Maine is hailing the new standards, which it says will save Mainers 57 millions of gallons of gasoline by 2016, compared to the previous federal standards, and help clean the air of global warming pollutants.

Maine Department of Environmental Protection officials are also applauding the move. "Today's action would not have occurred but for state leadership in developing stringent motor vehicle GHG emissions standards," says state Air Quality Director James Brooks in a statement.

Brooks says today's announcement "shows that the Clean Air Act is a workable and effective mechanism for sharing state and federal authority to reduce GHGs."

Federal officials say the new rules will conserve more than 1.8 billion barrels of oil and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 960 million metric tons over the lifetime of the regulated vehicles -- the equivalent of taking 50 million cars and light trucks off the road in 2030.
 
The lower fuel costs will enable the average buyer of a 2016 model vehicle to save about $3,000 over the lifetime of the vehicle, federal EPA officials say.