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Weasel Zippers
2/18/2014
President Obama will again bypass Congress and take executive actions to promote his agenda on Tuesday – this time by ordering the federal government to develop the next round of greenhouse gas standards for medium- and heavy-weight trucks by March 2016.
Back in Washington from a three-day trip to California, Obama will announce the new executive orders, which the White House said are aimed at curbing climate change, at a Safeway distribution center in Upper Marlboro, Md…
…Trucks and heavy-duty vehicles represent a major opportunity to cut transportation and carbon pollution, the White House said. In 2010, heavy-duty vehicles represented just 4 percent of registered vehicles on the road in the United States, but they account for approximately 25 percent of on-road fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector today…
The entire post is at Weasel Zippers.
Related: Obama Shouldn’t Decide Your Truck’s Gas Mileage
…Limiting customer choice in this way is unlikely to create many benefits if previous experience holds. The President purports that fuel efficiency standards will save consumers money and improve the environment. Instead it’s likely the regulations will increase upfront costs for customers – since manufacturers will have to spend to get the higher mileage rates, regardless of whether customers want to pay for that or not — without any meaningful environmental benefit…
…Congress rejected cap-and-trade in 2009, but is watching by while the Obama Administration implements it through the back door with regulatory action. The Climate Action Plan was a warning shot. It’s high time Congress get back in the game of legislating.
See the Futuristic Concept Truck Walmart Wants to Use to Maximize Efficiency on the Road (video)
…In 2005, Wal-Mart set a goal of doubling the efficiency of its truck fleet by 2015. Sultemeier said the company reached 80% of its goal by purchasing more fuel-efficient trucks and finding ways to ship more goods in less space and using fewer trucks…
Hopefully. Liberal Newspapers Waking Up to Obama’s ‘Aggressive’ Executive Power
Major newspaper editorial pages that President Barack Obama has generally been able to count on for support are now raising red flags about the White House’s potential for executive overreach…
