The Future (for getting off oil) Is So Bright...

This post was written by Jesse Prentice-Dunn of the Sierra Club Green Transportation Campaign. Be sure to join the Green Transportation Group on Climate Crossroads.

Definitely should have worn sunglasses this morning – both for the early summer sun beaming down on the White House Rose Garden, but also for the bright future for ending our dependence on oil.

This morning in the Rose Garden, President Obama announced that his administration would issue the first ever standards for medium and heavy duty trucks (think UPS delivery vehicles and tractor trailers). Freight trucks are only 4% of the vehicles on the road, but spew more than 21% of all global warming pollution from transportation. Amazingly, the heavy trucks on the road today average 6 mpg, barely more than they did in 1970.

Improvements to freight truck engines and trailer design, using technologies already on the shelf, can significantly increase efficiency. These improvements will save truckers money, lower costs for businesses, and reduce oil use and emissions from freight shipping. To seriously tackle emissions from freight shipping, we must begin to shift freight to rail and make freight trucks more efficient.

Also this morning, the President announced that the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration would begin work on the next round of efficiency standards for our passenger cars and trucks for 2017 and beyond. Importantly, California will be at the table, as it is currently developing state greenhouse gas standards for cars from 2017-2025.

My take on this morning - it is clear that the years of inaction that have hooked us on oil are over. This administration has set a path that will cut oil from our freight trucks for the first time ever and is moving aggressively to develop and deploy advanced technology vehicles that can provide a cleaner alternative to oil altogether. This is a wonderful first step, and we must continue to push for a future not dependent on oil.

Comments

[crane trucks]

I am glad that everyone is realizing that oil is not helping us in any way or the Earth. We need to find alternative fuels.

[bucket trucks]

Everyone has to agree that eventually, oil won't be a viable source of energy and humans must find the appropriate alternative(s). What we are doing now is creating an alternative energy bubble where there will be lots of adaptations and only a few will survive to become the accepted forms of creating "green" energy. I'm excited to see what the future holds for non-oil energy.