Course talk:ECON371/UBCO2010WT1/GROUP4/Article 1: Subsidizing Electric Vehicles

CBC-Canada and US unite on Car emission standards

Summary

Primarily, this news article is concerned with the new rules which mean Canada and the U.S. will have uniform emissions standards for the cars and light trucks which will be produced in the future. Environment Minister Jim Prentice announced this fact in an Ottawa-area news conference. The goal is by 2016, the new measures will reduce greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles by 25%. The new standards will require 2016 model-year vehicles to meet a fuel efficiency target of 35.5 miles per gallon or 6.6 L/100 km. This is combined for cars and trucks, an increase of nearly 10 miles per gallon over current standards. The article also stated that the current average Canadian car consumes 8.6 litres of fuel in 100 kilometres. Prentice also mentioned, “This is taking a big step forward in fighting climate change.” Furthermore, it is known that emissions from passenger vehicles represent 25% of Canada’s total emissions. This means that automobiles of all sizes will have to be proportionately more fuel-efficient. An important thing to note is that these new standards are likely to lead to an increase in sticker prices for vehicles. Although this is the case, drivers will make up the difference in lower fuel costs within a year and a half of buying the car, and will benefit from the savings soon after. Later on in the article, it mentions what President Barack Obama had to say regarding the new standards. He said, the standards would “reduce our dependence on oil while helping folks spend a little less at the pump.” He also mentions that the increased efficiency would save 1.8 billion barrels of oil over the life of the program. Only time will tell as to how effective the new standards will turn out to be.