| March 27, 2007 |  |
Flex-Fuel Vehicles Won't End Oil Dependence
Flex-Fuel Vehicles Won't End Oil Dependence
WASHINGTON – While President Bush and top automaker executives were posing in the White House driveway touting the benefits of "flex-fuel" vehicles that can run on either gasoline or a gasoline-ethanol mix, engineers at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) cautioned that, while ethanol will help, it is no panacea for America's oil addiction.
Below is a statement by David Friedman, research director for the UCS Clean Vehicles Program:
"Ethanol can help reduce our oil dependence and cut global warming pollution from our cars and trucks, but it is no silver bullet. The president's goal of a 20 percent reduction in gasoline demand over the next 10 years cannot be met with ethanol alone.
"In their photo op with the president, chief executives from Detroit's Big Three repeated their commitment to making up to half their fleets ethanol-capable – but only if someone else gets the fuel to the market. This is just another example of the automakers trying to shift the burden of cleaning up vehicle pollution and reducing oil dependence to someone else. The automakers already have the technology to boost the fuel economy of their cars and trucks by 60 to 70 percent, but they're not willing to take responsibility to address the problems they've caused.
"It was telling that the president and the Big Three executives did not voice support for congressional efforts to increase fuel efficiency by about 10 miles per gallon over 10 years. In fact, automakers recently steered members of Congress away from strengthening fuel economy standards. But without better fuel economy, we will be simply switching from guzzling gasoline to guzzling alcohol.
"Increased fuel economy standards were a core part of meeting the president's promise to America to cut gasoline demand by 20 percent in 10 years. Boosting fuel economy to 35 mpg over the next 10 years and continuing to improve it 4 percent annually thereafter would cut oil dependence in 2025 by more than 3 million barrels of oil per day – more than what we currently import from the entire Persian Gulf – and save Americans more than $30 billion a year.
"The president and the Big Three executives also didn't utter a word about global warming pollution. U.S. cars and trucks are responsible for more global warming pollution than the entire output of India. By increasing fuel economy standards from today's 24.6 mpg to 35 mpg over the next 10 years, the United States would cut global warming pollution by 520 million metric tons, the equivalent of taking 75 million of today's cars and trucks off the road."
The Union of Concerned Scientists puts rigorous, independent science to work to solve our planet's most pressing problems. Joining with citizens across the country, we combine technical analysis and effective advocacy to create innovative, practical solutions for a healthy, safe, and sustainable future.
