It is Time to End Our Fix on Fossil Fuel

It is Time to End Our Fix on Fossil Fuel

"I will work in Congress to pass legislation which emphasizes energy efficiency and sustainable energy, protects our environment and our national security and most importantly reduce he cost of Fuel." Yvette Clarke

The price of gas at the pump fluctuates daily, but it is now over 40 percent higher than when President Bush first took office. In Brooklyn, increased gas prices are taking a heavy bite out of workers' incomes. The high price of gas is also hurting the trucking industry, aviation, small businesses, tourism and, in fact, the entire American economy.

Meanwhile, as all Americans are experiencing a higher gas prices, the big oil companies are making out like bandits. Over the past four years, the five largest oil companies, Exxon-Mobil, Chevron, Conoco-Phillips, BP Amoco and Royal Dutch Shell have reaped over $205 billion in profits. In 2003 oil companies earned $87 billion in profits -- an increase of almost 40 percent. This year all the oil companies made record breaking profits

Technology is now available to not only move our country away from fossil fuels and into sustainable energy, but to greatly increase energy efficiency in every aspect of our lives -- including transportation. Instead of driving vehicles which get lower mileage per gallon than we used to, we should raise fuel efficiency standards for automobiles and SUVs so that we do not continue to waste huge amounts of oil. If we raised average fuel standards to 45 miles per gallon for cars and 34 mpg for SUVs over the next decade, we could save consumers $80 billion a year at the pump, 1.3 billion gallons of oil a year, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 1.5 trillion pounds a year. It's a win-win -- good for consumers and good for the environment.

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