Fuel Efficiency

For decades, Rep. Markey has led Congressional efforts to increase the fuel efficiency of the cars and light trucks we drive in order to reduce our dangerous dependence on foreign oil. President Obama recently announced that by 2025, the automotive fleet will average 54.5 miles per gallon.  This standard will reduce the need for as much as 3.8 million barrels of oil per day by 2030, and was enabled by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which included higher fuel economy standards co-authored by Rep. Markey and championed by then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). The fuel economy legislation, combined with the 2007 Supreme Court decision of Massachusetts v. the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which affirmed the agency’s authority to reduce greenhouse gas pollution from automobiles, paved the way for these new standards.