Vehicles hit 20-year low in fuel economy

Monday, October 08, 2001
By Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- Average fuel economy of new passenger vehicles is at a 20-year
low, largely because of the widespread popularity of sport utility vehicles,
the government said.

"Fuel economy is being traded for weight and power," concludes the analysis
produced by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The report is expected to add to the debate over whether the government
should require automakers to make their products less fuel hungry, especially
larger SUVs which are subject to less stringent regulations than are other
passenger cars.

In its latest fuel economy trends report, the EPA said that the average fuel
use of new passenger vehicles has declined 1.9 miles per gallon since 1988
and is at the lowest level since 1980.

The report assessed fuel economy, as obtained in laboratory test runs, of car
models from 1975 through 2000. The EPA planned to make public next week its
fuel economy numbers for the new 2002 models.

The report said that SUVs, vans and small pickups together accounted for 46
percent of all model 2000 vehicles sold, a percentage that has been fairly
constant in recent years.

Passenger vehicles, including SUVs, today have about the same fuel demands as
their model 1981 counterparts, said the report.

While automakers over the years have developed more efficient technologies
that could reduce fuel consumption, these technologies instead have largely
been used "to increase light vehicle weight and acceleration" rather than
fuel savings, the report said.

Recent findings by a panel of the National Academy of Sciences concluded that
technologies exist to significantly boost automobile fuel efficiency over the
next 10 to 15 years. It urged that the focus for improvements be on the SUV
fleets.

But the Academy's conclusions have been challenged by the automakers, who
claim the panel of scientists overestimated potential fuel savings. The
Academy is holding a public hearing Friday to hear all sides in the debate,
but has said it is unlikely that whatever errors were made would change the
general findings.

The government requires that new passenger sedans meet a fleet average of
27.5 miles per gallon, while SUVs, vans and pickups must meet a 20.1 mpg
average.

This year's EPA trends report said that in 2000, cars averaged 28.1 mpg, vans
22.5 mpg, pickups 20.1 mpg and SUVs 20 mpg. It said that while the 3.2
million model 2000 SUVs, pickups and vans reflected 46 percent of the total
vehicles sold, they can be expected to use 56 percent of the fuel used by the
model 2000 vehicles.

With passenger vehicles accounting for 40 percent of U.S. oil consumption,
environmentalists have argued that tougher fuel economy requirements on
automakers are key to saving energy.

As Congress debates energy legislation, Senate Democrats have vowed to press
for more stringent fuel economy requirements. The Bush administration has
said it will re-examine the current fuel economy regulations to see how they
can be improved, but has made no commitment to higher mileage requirements.

While automakers remain highly critical of the federal fuel economy, or CAFE,
rules, manufacturers have promised improvements, especially in their SUV
fleets.

Ford Motor Co., for example, pledged to boost the fuel economy of its entire
line of SUVs by 25 percent by 2005. General Motors has also has boasted of
plans for improvements, as have other manufacturers as they develop new
hybrid-technology cars that run on gas and electricity and get 60 or more mpg.

"If all manufactures were to voluntarily increase the average fuel economy of
the entire light vehicle fleets by 25 percent by 2005, average new light
vehicle fuel economy would increase from 24 mpg (today) to 30 mpg," said the
EPA report.

Copyright 2001, Associated Press
All Rights Reserved

US plants could be harmed by warmer climate - study
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USA: October 8, 2001
 

WASHINGTON - Several species of plants in the U.S. Midwest could become
extinct within 30 years if climate conditions continue to become drier and
warmer as many experts predict, researchers have said.
 

A team of scientists found that seed production by the partridge pea plant,
which averages 2 feet (0.6 meters) in height and produces bright yellow
flowers during the summer, diminishes as conditions become hotter and drier.
The partridge pea is unable to adapt itself quickly enough to keep pace with
the changing conditions, leaving it and possibly other native plants on the
verge of extinction, the researchers found.

The study "raises a general concern that the same sort of thing would go on
with other plants," said Ruth Shaw, a University of Minnesota professor who
co-authored the study.

"There hasn't been a concerted effort to stop the process or recognize the
consequences that we are facing, and waiting until it happens is likely to be
too late," she said.

Shaw and co-author Julie Etterson of the University of Virginia planted seeds
from the Minnesota partridge pea in Kansas, where temperatures are about 7
degrees (4 degrees Celsius) warmer than the plant's native state.

The researches believe within 35 years, temperatures and soil moisture
content in Minnesota will be similar to what Kansas is experiencing today.
Under extreme conditions, Minnesota's temperature and precipitation levels
could mirror current data in Oklahoma.

Writing in the journal Science, the researches found seed production by
Minnesota plants dropped 84 percent when grown in Kansas and 94 percent when
grown in Oklahoma, where conditions are warmer and drier.

A strain of the plant from Kansas also was planted in Oklahoma, and seed
production dipped 42 percent.

They caution that in addition to climate, the pea plant and other species are
hindered from being introduced into other regions by the rapid growth of
urbanization and agriculture.

"The habitat of native plants is fragmented between farms and cities, making
it difficult for plants to slowly migrate to areas with more favorable
conditions," Etterson said.

Etterson said these plants will be forced to rely on their evolutionary
response to adapt to changing conditions, but cautioned that they will be
unlikely to evolve quickly enough to survive.

Story by Christopher Doering
 

REUTERS NEWS SERVICE 

UPDATE - US utilities, green groups huddle on emissions
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USA: October 8, 2001
 

WASHINGTON - A high-stakes meeting to discuss proposed changes to the Clean
Air Act was set to resume last week after the head of the Senate Environment
committee vowed last weekto hold U.S. electric utilities accountable for
cutting emissions.
 

Democrats want to require utilities to begin making steep cuts in 2002 in
emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, mercury and carbon dioxide.
The Republicans and the industry prefer an emissions trading scheme to curb
pollution, which would not take effect until 2007. They also oppose limits on
carbon dioxide, which has been linked to global warming.

On Thursday, Sen. Jim Jeffords, the Vermont Independent who heads the Senate
Environment panel, summoned industry, environmental and public health
representatives to a closed-door meeting to discuss options. His legislation
"will hold the power sector responsible for reducing its share of carbon
emissions," Jeffords said in statement.

The marathon 9-hour session centered on cuts for each of the four pollutants,
but industry and green groups remained far apart, participants said afterward.

The meeting will continue last week.

"We haven't seen any major breakthroughs yet," said Blake Early of the
American Lung Association, who was at the meeting.

But some participants said they saw growing support for the view that
regulatory certainty for utility emissions is good for both camps.

Compliance with proposed regulations is "not as costly as what everyone was
expecting - I think that's the interpretation," said Kenneth Connolly, staff
director of the committee.

SENATE DEBATE THIS WINTER

The committee aims to hold a bill-writing session on Nov. 1, and move
legislation to the Senate floor in early 2002, a committee staffer said.

Jeffords emphasized that his legislation will address all four pollutants.
"To be very clear, the committee will move four-pollutant legislation. Not
three or three and a half," he said.

The Bush administration and Republican committee member George Voinovich of
Ohio say that including carbon dioxide would cost utilities billions of
dollars and hurt the already slowing U.S. economy.

Jeffords also expressed impatience toward the Environmental Protection Agency
for failing to offer up its own legislation.

"We still haven't seen the EPA analysis that we requested," he said.

Sources close to the talks speculated that the two-day meeting would pressure
the EPA to make its views known.

"Having a (bill) mark-up really helps," said one source, adding that the EPA
must release its own plan before a bill-writing session to influence the
outcome.

EPA held to its recent position. "We are planning to release a
multi-emissions proposal this fall," an EPA spokesman said. "That's as
specific as we can be."

EPA in July signaled it might replace current regulations with a new
cap-and-trade regime for NOx, sulfur dioxide and mercury. That kind of
market-based approach would allow dirty power plants to buy emission rights
from cleaner plants.

The Energy Department opposes EPA's proposed cuts because they might hamper
U.S. utilities from boosting electricity output - a major DOE priority,
environmental sources said.

Story by Chris Baltimore
 

REUTERS NEWS SERVICE 

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