Strange Bedfellows Ask President Obama To Set 60MPG Standard, Will Reduce 2.5 Million Barrels of Oil Per Day in 2030 – 2030 HUH?

But First Snide’s Remarks: Why is a group of seemingly intelligent patriotic Americans promoting the 60MPG propaganda? Is it to divert attention from the real solution?

Why not promote a timely and meaningful solution to our gasoline dependency and all that it means by supporting a law that mandates a drop-in replacement for today’s regular gasoline (E10) with tomorrow’s New Regular (E85). This action will instantly get us on the right road to ubiquitously reduce our collective gasoline consumption by 75%, today not in 20, 30, 40 years or never.

Using New Regular (E85) allows even the hoggy-est of gas hogs to travel on less gasoline than a future fairy tale of of 60MPG.

For instance if your car or truck gets 15 MPG using Old Fashioned Regular, switch to New Regular (E85) and you will instantly reduce your vehicle’s gasoline consumption by a factor of 7, to the equivalent of 100MPG (so why bother with a 60MPG lobbying effort you ask, well even a CAFE of 60MPG of Old Regular will guarantee the nice oil companies billions in profits each year, forever.)

The Auto Channel has created the exclusive E85 Fuel Economy Calculator so you can see just how many equivelent gasoline MPG you can get on your present vehicle.

The Auto Channel continues to scream that the phrase "MPG improvement" is misdirecting code that helps continue oil’s monopoly, and that the answer to our gasoline dependency is not higher MPG, but Miles Per Gallon of WHAT?. If you are using water, or alcohol, or hydrogen, or natural gas, or biodiesel, or a flux-capacitor or any other renewable, domestic fuel…MPG wouldn’t matter, and your a vehicle's fuel use would once again become an economic and lifestyle choice, not a national security debate issue.

MPG of What?

Mandating the production and ubiquitous distribution of Made in America ethanol, will be going back to the future. Because until GM and Standard Oil got their exclusive patent for higher octane gasoline by adding lead to it (Ethyl) back in the early 1920’s, flex-fuel ethanol was the motorist’s choice for vehicles that needed a higher octane fuel than gasoline provided. Back in the day American motorists actually had a choice of fuel until the gasoline monopoly took hold.

Over the ensuing decades GM designed, built and distributed vehicles that were optimized for their profit generating leaded gas, the more the GM cars and trucks used, the more revenue GM generated from its patent. It’s no wonder why GM produced gas guzzlers and lobbied and bribed those in power to unabashedly tax ethanol out of existence thereby eliminating a viable competitor to their monopolistic leaded gasoline. In 1974 our government finally came to its senses by mandating a ban on the poisonous and harmful to children and other living things, leaded fuel, but unfortunately not soon enough to eliminate 50 plus years of airborne lead from our environment.

Just as the 1974 congress mandated the elimination of poisonous leaded gasoline, so must today’s government mandate the elimination of old fashioned harmful gasoline.

America’s Problem – American Solution

Since 1984, virtually every car on America’s roads can safely use New Regular (E85) (which by the way is really High Test) a fuel made of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline. (a ratio that will allow 100% production here in the USA, with 100% of the revenue and profit going to our farmers, our distilleries, our drillers, our refineries, our workers and to multiply in our economy.)

All that is needed is our collective will and a onetime, revenue neutral, change-over subsidy to retailers, distilleries and manufacturers (talk about an economic boost to American workers) because New Regular, unlike all the other fuel options is ready for prime time, New Regular will be able to use the existing infrastructure, the same pumps, the same distribution and can continue to be marketed at your favorite Circle K store and provide America with a real fuel solution.

And with the money we all save at the pump, estimates show that when in full distribution New Regular can be profitably retailed for about a $1 buck a gallon (imagine a fill up of ecologically less harmful, domestic renewable fuel costing $10-$15 bucks instead of $40-50 bucks). And just imagine how much better our country and our people will be when we eliminate all of gasoline’s costs, monetarily, the loss of our collective psyche and most importantly the lost lives and broken bodies and spirits of our children, grandchildren husbands and wives, to our now all too common but could be eliminated “Oil Wars”.

With the money we save by spending less on every fill-up and eliminating our $10 Billion in subsidies to “Our Oil Companies” we will be able to afford to provide a “Freedom from Foreign Oil” insurance policy, so every car on America’s roads will be protected by the FFO insurance policy, which will cover the costs to repair any vehicle that is harmed because it used New Regular instead of Old Regular. As an example if a vehicle has a mechanical problem that has been caused by the use of New Regular, take it to an authorized repair facility and it will be repaired at no charge, if New Regular was the cause of the problem.

We are so confident that New Regular (E85) will cause no harm that we project billions of dollars each year in surplus reserves which can be applied to the restoration and repair of America’s decaying highway system…all American’s win with this mandate.

When American motorists are filling-up with domestic renewable liquid fuel, the OPEC and domestic oil companies (is there really such a thing?) will have no choice but to stop spending hundreds of millions of dollar in lobbying fees and who knows how much in supporting groups that hate America and our way of life.

Here at The Auto Channel we are counting the days until MPG is once again just an economic, performance and lifestyle decision and not the national security issue it has become.

Although 60MPG of gasoline sounds like a real effort to change for the better, it is no solution, as it promotes the status-quo and extends our country’s reliance on gasoline as our primary freedom fuel…just eliminate gasoline, that is the answer.

What do you think? msnide@theautochannel.com

Press Release: Union of Concerned Scientists, Environment America, Sierra Club, and Republicans for Environmental Protection: Environmental Leaders Call on President Obama to Deliver Real Gas Saving Solutions

Letter Asks President to Set 60 MPG Standard for New Vehicles that Save at the Pump, Protect Clean Air and Reduce Oil Dependence

WASHINGTON, May 9, 2011 The leaders of the nation's largest environmental groups today asked President Obama to create long-term relief for drivers at the pump by delivering the strongest fuel-efficiency and auto pollution standards for new vehicles currently under consideration. The administration will propose new fuel efficiency and auto pollution standards this September, with key decisions being made this summer. The request came in a letter signed by 34 environmental, science, and public health organizations, including the Union of Concerned Scientists, Environment America, Sierra Club and Republicans for Environmental Protection.

Rejecting the erroneous assertion that the only way to offer relief for American drivers struggling with near-$4 a gallon gasoline is to expand domestic drilling, the leaders of the organizations said today that the best chance the president has to create long-term fuel savings is to demand that new vehicles use the fuel they consume as efficiently as possible. Last week, Environment America released a new report that found that if cars and trucks achieved a 60 miles-per-gallon (mpg) standard at today's current gas prices, the average American family would save $513 at the gas pump this summer.

According to the groups' joint letter to President Obama, the strongest standards under consideration would reduce "U.S. oil consumption 2.5 million barrels of oil per day in 2030 - almost 50 percent more oil than we imported last year from the Persian Gulf. The strongest standards also protect our health and environment by preventing two times more global warming pollution than the weakest proposal. That is as much pollution as all of America's cars and light trucks release in over two years."

The full text of the letter is available online at http://www.Go60MPG.org.

"This is the President's best opportunity to cut America's oil dependence," said Union of Concerned Scientists President Kevin Knobloch. "We have the technology to build cleaner, more fuel efficient cars, trucks, and SUVs. It's not rocket science, it's just combining good auto engineering and all-American can do attitude."

Rob Sisson, president, Republicans for Environmental Protection, said: "Increasing CAFE standards is the first and most logical step towards reducing our nation's dangerous reliance on foreign oil. When my fellow Michigander, Gerald Ford, pushed through the first such standards, vehicles in the United States averaged 13MPG. Detroit's ingenuity has cut fuel consumption by cars in half. American automakers can do better, and American workers can prosper as we export fuel efficiency around the world."

"We cannot afford the status quo," said Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune. "America's leaders need to act immediately to break our nation's dangerous dependence on oil - not by drilling more or giving out tax breaks to Big Oil - but through better, more fuel efficient vehicles, smart transportation choices and real solutions to move us Beyond Oil."

"Americans shouldn't have to spend their summers worrying about how they will afford to drive, let alone whether their driving is polluting the air their kids breathe, or whether their beaches will be safe from oil spills," said Environment America Executive Director Margie Alt. "President Obama can help solve these problems by raising pollution and fuel efficiency standards to 60 miles per gallon."

This September, the administration is set to announce fuel efficiency and global warming pollution standards for new light-duty vehicles sold between 2017 and 2025. The government's own analysis determined that a fuel efficiency standard of about 60 miles-per-gallon and a 6 percent annual reduction in global warming pollution is both feasible and delivers the greatest benefits. This standard, according to an analysis by UCS, would save vehicle owners nearly $9,000 over the life of the vehicle at a gas price of $4 per gallon, even after paying for the additional cost of the cleaner, more fuel efficient vehicle. That's the equivalent of a gasoline price cut of $1.30 per gallon compared to a vehicle with today's fuel efficiency.

The joint letter reads in part as follows: "These standards will determine the types of cars and trucks our children will drive decades from now. You have a historic opportunity to do more than any previous President to ensure that we can create a future that frees America from its dangerous dependence on oil, keeps billions of dollars in our economy and reduces the threat of climate change. We urge you to seize this opportunity by setting strong vehicle standards that increase fuel efficiency to 60 miles-per-gallon and reduce global warming pollution 6 percent annually by 2025."