White House sees rules saving 1.8 billion barrels

The White House is selling its proposal for new national fuel efficiency standards for automobiles as a way to reduce dependency on foreign oil while saving consumers money.

The new limits will save 1.8 billion barrels of oil over the program’s seven-year life, President Obama’s climate czar said Tuesday. While the price of a car will increase, the Obama adviser also said consumers would save money in the long run on lower fuel costs.

{mosads}”[T]he American public, when they go to the pump, will actually save money. Their cars will drive farther on a gallon of gas, and ultimately we’ll reduce our oil use by 1.8 billion barrels over the life of the program. Now, that’s good news,” White House energy and climate change adviser Carol Browner said on MSNBC Tuesday morning.

President Obama on Tuesday will propose raising national fuel efficiency standards to 35.5 miles per gallon, a benchmark that would bring disparate standards throughout the country in line with each other. As it stands, more than a dozen states, led by California, have higher fuel efficiency standards than the rest of the country.

Browner said the environmental benefit and savings from the program will also be increased by having the standard apply nationally.

Automotive companies, which have had to deal with differing standards throughout the country, told the White House they needed one standard nationally, Browner said.

“They needed to know what was expected of them. And that’s what we were able to give them,” Browner said. “We didn’t compromise on the environmental side. We didn’t compromise on the consumer savings side. But we were able to give them what they needed as a business.”

Unlike previous fuel standards, which applied to fleet averages, the new proposal will apply to every category of car.

Some economists have suggested that an increase in the national gas tax would be the most effective way to move Americans toward buying smaller, more fuel-efficient cars, but Browner refused to comment on whether the administration would move to increase those taxes.

“We’re doing what we think is right today, which is setting fuel efficiency greenhouse gas standards,” was all Browner would say when pressed on a gas tax increase on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

Instead, the agreement to be announced Tuesday has support from the industry, as well as from environmental groups. It will increase fuel efficiency an average of 5 percent a year over the next seven years, a goal the White House says will be the equivalent of taking 177 million cars off the road.

While the proposal is likely to cost an average of $600 extra per vehicle, the White House points out that, with gas estimated to cost $3.50 a gallon by 2016, consumer savings are likely to add up to that much over the term of a 60-month lease.

Obama will announce the new rules in a Tuesday afternoon address in the Rose Garden.