DEM SPEAK: EPA rules called win for wallets, air, planet

03/04/2014

TRANSLATION:

 Win for wallets: "Big Auto" profits will soar. Thanks to the cost of automobiles 
 Win for clean air: Many small and mid-sized American businesses will fold due to overregulation
 Win for the planet: Many businesses with the money to do so will relocate overseas

WIN! WIN! WIN!

Clean air standards that will change the formula for American gasoline and the efficiency of the engines that burn it formally went into effect on Monday.

The so-called “Tier 3” standards are part of the Obama administration's broader push to rein in pollution and improve automobile fuel economy through federal agencies controlled by the president.

Tier 3 standards, with the Environmental Protection Agency's program to cut greenhouse gas emissions, are forecast to save thousands of lives annually, health officials said.

Environmentalists hailed the move as an “important step forward,” while petroleum industry groups said the standards will require refineries to make billions of dollars of upgrades for no significant benefit.

The Tier 3 standards require refineries to begin producing gasoline with less sulfur and other pollutants. At the same time, automakers will have to make engines that burn that cleaner fuel more efficiently. The standards go into force in 2017, though smaller refineries will have up to seven more years to comply.

When the Tier 3 changes are fully implemented in 2025, they will slash fuel costs for consumers by $8,000 annually, the EPA said.

Meanwhile, the rules are expected to cut tailpipe nitrogen oxide emissions by 260,000 tons by 2018. With more than 50 million people who live, work, or go to school near high-traffic roadways, total health-related benefits by 2030 are projected to be $7 billion to $19 billion annually, the EPA said.

In 2025, the new standards will have increased the average price of a vehicle by only $72, according to EPA estimates.

Automakers have gotten on board. They back the EPA's establishment of one set of emission standards for vehicles nationwide, replacing the patchwork of federal and state laws that existed previously.

That “is a big deal for us,” said Mike Robinson, vice president of sustainability and global regulatory affairs at General Motors.

source