WASHINGTON D.C. (KCBS) -- California’s senior Senator has co-sponsored a bipartisan bill to raise the average fuel economy standards for American-made vehicles.
The bill, also sponsored by Maine Republican Olympia Snowe and Illinois Democrat Richard Durbin, would raise the corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards for all vehicles from 25 miles per gallon to 35 miles per gallon by 2017.
“The Congress has not adjusted fuel efficiency in over a decade,” Feinstein told KCBS’s Susan Leigh Taylor.
The new CAFÉ standards would apply to large sedans and sport utility vehicles, as well as other vehicles.
“We know it’s technologically doable. We know the technology is out there to do it. We also know that the American motor car manufacturers have been really recalcitrant when it comes to this kind of thing,” Feinstein said, adding that surveys find consumers want to buy fuel efficient cars.
She estimates the bill, if passed, would save 2.5 million barrels of oil a day by 2025, the same amount now imported from the Persian Gulf.
“We've got to look for alternatives to the internal combustion engine, because we can't drill ourselves out of our energy problems,” Feinstein said.
(jro)
E-Mail Story
Print Story
DW.pageParams = {
siteId: '255'
};
DW.clear();
DW.trackClicks();
