Obama’s Clean Fleets Partnership Highlights Need for Efforts to Get Off Oil

Media Contacts
Nathan Willcox

Environment America

Landover, MD — President Obama spoke at a UPS Shipping Plant today at 12:30 PM to highlight the National Clean Fleets Partnership and to talk about clean vehicle technology. 

John Cross, Transportation Advocate for Environment America, released the following statement:

“President Obama’s speech today about the National Clean Fleets Partnership pointed to an initiative that the Administration has begun in partnership with private entities to put cleaner vehicles on the road. This partnership attempts to address some of the consequences of our dependence on oil and highlights the importance of taking bigger, bolder steps to get off oil.

 “The administration has made some critical efforts, such as issuing a first set of clean car and truck standards, which will already start alleviating oil’s impact on consumers this year.  Now, the president must focus on his plans to establish standards that will take us through 2025.

“The president pointed out today that the National Clean Fleets Partnership will save us roughly 7 million gallons of oil annually, but strong car and truck standards that get us to 60 mpg by 2025 could save us 44 billion gallons each year by 2030. Such a standard would save Americans $101 billion every year at the gas pump and would be a historic achievement.

“Our continued addiction to oil threatens our energy security, our economy, our health and our environment, and it must be immediately addressed. Oil has pumped millions of tons of pollution into our atmosphere, and tragic oil spills, like BP’s spill in the Gulf, have dumped millions of gallons into our nation’s waterways. Now, instability in the Middle East, among other factors, is forcing us to pay millions more at the pump. The only way that we can overcome the overwhelming consequences of our oil dependence is to get off oil.

“Right now, Congress is launching attacks on the Clean Air Act that would cripple our ability to move forward and that would threaten our energy security for years to come.  We urge the President to continue standing strong against these attacks.

 “The dire consequences of oil on our health, our environment, our wallets, and on our energy security demand that we tap into American ingenuity to build the next generation of high tech vehicles that run on little to no oil. We are glad to see the work that President Obama is doing so far. Now, we urge the president to put the pedal to the metal and leave our oil dependence in the rearview mirror.”