SAFE Praises New Fuel Economy Rules

WASHINGTON, May 19, 2009 Securing America's Future Energy (SAFE) today praised the Obama administration for its announcement of aggressive national fuel economy goals for cars and light trucks.

"The policy announced today combines two absolutely essential elements: aggressive new fuel economy goals, and a national framework that provides regulatory certainty for the industry," SAFE President and CEO Robbie Diamond said. "We commend the administration on their ambitious approach -- one that follows recommendations we have made not only to improve fuel economy standards, but to do so as aggressively as possible in the upcoming years instead of putting it off, and one that sets a consistent national standard instead of a patchwork of different rules."

The new rules will increase the national fleetwide average standard for cars and light trucks to 35.5 miles per gallon (39 mpg for cars and 30 mpg for light trucks) by 2016, four years faster than required by the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA). The new standards will be applied nationwide.

"Reducing the amount of oil consumed by our transportation sector -- which today accounts for 70 percent of the petroleum our country uses every single day -- is a crucial step toward a safer, more prosperous nation," Diamond continued. "But it cannot be the final step. Ultimately, as long as our cars and trucks, and therefore our entire economy, are dependent on oil, we remain vulnerable. It is crucial that policymakers in both the House and Senate continue to move forward with proposed comprehensive legislation that will eventually result in an electrified transportation system fueled by a wide variety of domestic fuels instead of oil."

In 2006, the Energy Security Leadership Council (ESLC) -- a group of business executives and retired military leaders led by General P.X. Kelley (Ret.), 28th Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, and Frederick W. Smith, Chairman, President and CEO of FedEX Corporation -- released their Recommendations to the Nation on Reducing U.S. Oil Dependence, helping shape 2007's EISA. In September 2008, the ESLC released A National Strategy for Energy Security, a new plan building on the accomplishments of 2007 by proposing the electrification of the short-haul transportation fleet along with all of the required infrastructural upgrades necessary for that effort, and measures -- including increased oil and natural gas production -- to keep our nation secure in the interim. Earlier this year, legislation encapsulating many of the fundamental elements of the National Strategy was introduced in both the U.S. House and Senate.