by Silvio Maracacci, via Clean Technica

As the federal government starts implementing an aggressive 54.5 mile-per-gallon (mpg) auto fuel efficiency standard, the importance of reducing gasoline consumption for a sustainable American economy and environment becomes clearer every day.

Combining Efficiency Standards and Fuel Fees

A new set of recommended vehicle efficiency standards and fuel fees from the ClimateWorks Foundation (CWF) and International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) reveals the route toward saving money and emissions. By continuously tightening vehicle performance standards and gradually increasing reasonable fuel fees, the report finds the United States could cut vehicle emissions 48 percent by 2030, while creating 190,000 jobs to build more efficient cars by 2020.

“As effective as performance standards and fees are when implemented as stand-alone policies, their complementary nature makes a combination of the two an almost textbook-perfect climate policy. Performance standards increase the fuel efficiency of the fleet, while high fuel and vehicle levies offset the resulting lower cost of driving and encourage consumers and
manufacturers to pursue ever more efficient technology options.”

Recent results have shown increasing fuel efficiency works. The CWF-ICCT report found the current 35.5 mpg by 2016 standard, set in April 2010, is expected to reduce ...

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