Just in time for the Easter season, the Obama administration has announced it is proposing the adoption of new fuel standards that oil industry analysts say could raise the price at the pump by up to 9 cents a gallon.
According to a statement issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Friday,the new standards wouldreduce the amount of sulfur in gasoline by more than 60 percent and reduce nitrogen oxides by 80 percent. If adopted, the new rules would apply to all states the same fuel emission standards which are currently in place in California.
The Obama administration has taken a series of steps to reinvigorate the auto industry and ensure that the cars of tomorrow are cleaner, more efficient and saving drivers money at the pump, and these common-sense, cleaner fuels and car standards are another example of how we can protect the environment and public health in an affordable and practical way, EPA acting administrator Bob Perciasepe said. Todays proposed standards which will save thousands of lives and protect the most vulnerable -- are the next step in our work to protect public health and will provide the automotive industry with the certainty they need to offer the same car models in all 50 states."
Opponents of the proposed regulation cite a March 2012 study commissioned by the American Petroleum Institute(API), which estimated that lowering the sulfur in gasoline would add between 6 and 9 cents a gallon to refiners' manufacturing costs, an increase that likely would be passed on to consumers at the pump. For its part, the EPA estimates the cost would amount to less than a penny a gallon.
"I haven't seen an EPA rule on fuels that has come out since 1995 that hasn't said it would cost only a penny or two more," API president Charles Drevna told the Associated Press. He added thatthe energy needed to implement the new standards could increase carbon pollution by 1 percent to 2 percent.
In its own statementFriday, the API warned other federally imposed cost increases might be on the horizon, citing other studies estimating that further regulations could add as much as 55 cents a gallon to the cost of gasoline by 2015.
Implementing the new requirements would actually increase greenhouse gas emissions because of the energy-intensive equipment required to comply, said API Downstream Group director Bob Greco. We urge the administration to bring common sense back into the regulatory process. Unnecessary regulations just mean higher costs and lost jobs.
The EPA maintains that the new regulations would result in less pollution, thereby saving taxpayers billions of dollars in health care costs.
The GOP for its part blasted the EPA's proposals as just so much kissing up to liberal interest groups that helped Obama win re-election in November.
"Its clear that President Obama is using his final four years tokowtowto the far-left environmentalists that helped elect him," the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) complained Friday."Free from further elections, hes taxing the middle and working class Americans in a very direct way. ...President Obama is doing everything he can to cement his liberal legacy."
The NRCC's statement highlighted the president's opposition to theKeystone XL Pipeline -- expected to bring over 20,000 jobs to the United States -- and a recent Obama fundraiser at the mansion of liberal billionaire Tom Steyer, a longtime opponent of Keystone XL and the coal industry.
Once published in the Federal Register, the EPA's proposals will be available for public comment, and the EPA will hold public hearings to receive further public input before deciding whether to implement the regulations.
Reach Eric Giunta at egiunta@sunshinestatenews.com or at (954) 235-9116.
