These technologies have already created jobs in New York. The federal government should be doing much more to promote this industry. But subsequent Administrations gutted these programs and twenty years later we have not yet fully reversed these cuts. If the U.S. is serious about energy independence and leadership in creating these high-tech jobs, we must dramatically increase funding renewable energy research and provide incentives for better efficiency. This is the single most effective way to promote our energy independence in the short-term.
Current standards save more than three million barrels of oil a day.
But instead of continuing this progress, the Republicans have prevented the Department of Transportation from even examining the need to raise CAFE standards for the past five years. When Congress passed the CAFE law in 1975, it required stepped increases for cars, but not for light trucks, because they accounted for such a small percentage of the market. Because of the growing market share of SUVs and the Republicans' prohibition on raising efficiency standards, the average fuel economy of all new passenger vehicles is at its lowest point since 1980. Raising CAFE standards would spur technological innovation, save consumers money, and lead to cleaner air and lower levels of greenhouse gases. Encourage Natural Gas Production Consumers' natural gas bills have more than doubled over the past year, and supplies of natural gas are currently low while demand is rapidly increasing.