FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 8, 2005
Contact: Josh Freed
(202) 225-4431
 
 
 DENVER, CO – U.S. Representative Diana DeGette (D-CO) released the following statement regarding a plan she will introduce next week to help consumers by requiring auto manufactures to increase fuel efficiency for all cars, trucks and SUVs to 33 miles per gallon:

“Thanks to the shortsighted policies of the President and Congress, our economy and the budgets of all Coloradoans – including the people behind me here today – are being hurt by skyrocketing gas prices.  In Colorado, gas is up to $2.15 or more a gallon and could hit almost $3 by Memorial Day.  This is an 18 cent jump from just last month – and a 36 cent-a-gallon increase from last year.  These prices are putting huge burdens on families and business owners who are already struggling to make ends meet.  In a recent poll, fifty-eight percent of Americans said that high gas costs are creating a financial hardship for them.

The people with me here today, and many others across Colorado, need their SUVs.  They cannot drive run their small business or carry all of their kids in a sports car or sedan.  But driving an SUV today means throwing more and more of your hard-earned dollars down your gas tank.   Vehicle fuel efficiency, however, has not kept pace with the demands for larger cars and trucks. In fact, it is at a twenty-year low.  This is hitting all of us in the wallet, forcing families to cut spending or skip vacations and forcing small businesses to hire fewer new employees or even cut existing workers.

There is no reason for it to be this way.  The technology exists today for every vehicle to use less fuel and it can be done without hurting the power or performance of our cars and SUVs.  Already, we are seeing a handful of hybrid SUVs make it onto the market.  They are in such demand, however, that they are tough to find and expensive to buy.

The only way to ensure that every car and truck is more fuel efficient is for the government to require it.  That is why I am introducing a plan that will require auto companies to increase the fuel efficiency standards of all vehicles to 33 miles to the gallon.  Within 10 years, this will reduce the amount of oil we use per year by 10 percent.

It makes no sense for this country to accept higher gas prices while we are at war and our economy continues to struggle.  This is just commonsense.  It is good for our economy to use less fuel.  It is good for our national security.  It is even good for our environment.”

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