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New Fuel Standards Could Actually Help Save $$

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May 19, 2009 10:07 pm US/Mountain

New Fuel Standards Could Actually Help Save $$

Good Question: What will the standards cost you?

Written by Alan Gionet

Reporting
Alan Gionet
DENVER (CBS4) ― Tuesday's announcement of a new target for fuel and emissions standards brought cheers and groans at the pumps.

"It would be a great idea. It would definitely help the economy," said the driver of a small car.

A woman driving a larger sedan said, "Oh come on, what else do they have to regulate?"

The President generated a long list of positives with the change. He said it would save 1.8 billion barrels of oil over the lifetime of the vehicles sold in the next five years. That's akin to removing 177 million cars from America's roads over the next 6 1/2 years. In that period Obama said the savings in oil burned to fuel American cars, trucks and buses would amount to last year's combined U.S. imports from Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Nigeria.

Another claim is on cost. Obama believes the new requirements that the auto industry to build vehicles that average 35.5 miles per gallon would add about $1,300 to the cost of a new vehicle. Car buyers are already going to be paying $700 more for mileage standards approved previously. The Obama plan adds another $600 to the price, adding up to $1,300.

That could be a bargain. Over the life of a vehicle Obama says the average buyer would save about $2,800 on fuel. The Energy Information Administration says fuel prices, which averaged $2.36 a gallon on Monday across all grades, are predicted to rise to $3.27 by 2016, when the standards take effect. Adding that up, the average car driver would save over $370 per year and the average light truck driver would save $330.

There could be other benefits that come with the plan's reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent.

"By addressing global warming we can hopefully prevent the changes that will impact our farming ranching and outdoor recreation," said Keith Hay of Environment Colorado. "But the upside is we're going to see growth in more growth green technologies and more clean technologies and that's been a real win here in Colorado already."

Hay believes that could mean jobs in addition to a reduction of the costs of damage from the effects of global warming.

(© MMX CBS Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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