By George Abry Staff Reporter R epresentatives of the trucking and automotive industries said provisions of the Kyoto global warming agreement would devastate the U.S. economy by wiping out jobs and greatly boosting energy prices. Mr. Arnold was on Capitol Hill July 15 to testify on the potential effects of the Kyoto Protocol, named for the Japanese city in which world leaders met to discuss ways to address global warming. And trucking equipment has become much more efficient, so it burns less fuel. The treaty would cripple trucking by driving up the cost of fuel, Mr. Arnold said.
Fuel is the lifeblood of our industry.
Trucks consume 25 billion gallons of diesel each year. Analysts saying reaching the lower levels of harmful emissions called for by the protocol would force up fuel prices nearly 70 cents per gallon by 2010. Even if we stopped operating every car, truck, boat, train and airplane in this country, the energy savings would not be enough to meet the requirements. At the hearing, Mr. McIntosh accused the Clinton administration of impeding efforts to tally the true costs of the Kyoto Protocol. Timothy P. Lynch, president of the Motor Freight Carriers Assn., said the industry needs more specifics regarding what it will take to comply with the treaty.