Political Quotes

“I am here now for the 190th ``Time to Wake Up'' speech to talk about an issue that falls at the intersection of climate change and jobs and consumer power and protection. You would think that a policy that simultaneously reduces the carbon emissions responsible for climate change and boosts American industrial competitiveness and puts thousands of dollars back into the pockets of American consumers would be pretty universally popular. Unfortunately, you would be wrong. The corporate average fuel economy standards, known as the CAFE standards, set a minimum threshold for the average fuel economy of cars and light trucks that are sold in the United States. In 2011, the major automakers here in America--Ford, GM, and the others--enthusiastically endorsed voluntary new fuel efficiency standards which would gradually increase the fuel economy for their cars and light trucks to 54.5 miles per gallon on average by 2025. Think about that for a second. In 2011, average fuel economy for these vehicles was stuck below 30 miles per gallon. The CAFE standards hadn't budged in years, and as a result, our automakers had stopped innovating to make cars more fuel efficient. They didn't have to make them more fuel efficient. And when gas prices soared in the mid-2000s, it was consumers who were on the hook.…”