Rick Allen: “as we consider the possibilities and challenges that face our great Nation and the tremendous dependence we have on…”

“as we consider the possibilities and challenges that face our great Nation and the tremendous dependence we have on foreign sources of oil, every effort to reduce that dependence becomes a key point for consideration by the Congress. In addition, the growing demand for oil by China and India only intensifies the need for action. We must become less reliant on foreign sources of oil and natural gas from unstable parts of the world. I have been made aware that by reducing fuel consumption in the aviation sector through implementation of an idle reduction technology we would see fuel reductions in excess of 90 million barrels of petroleum each year after full implementation. Implementing this type of technology would also greatly reduce the associated mobile source emissions greatly benefiting our metropolitan areas facing EPA nonattainment and the losses associated this categorization. The airline industry and the general public would also benefit from such technology through reduced costs and environmental improvements. According to DOT, expenses for U.S. commercial airlines, fuel and oil expenses were equal to those of labor which has historically been the single largest expense for the carriers. By reducing the amount of fuel required through idle reduction technology, the U.S. commercial airlines could save well over $4 billion in fuel costs at today's fuel prices, a large percentage of the estimated losses for this year.…”