Bloomberg on Auto Efficiency

This is a big one for the mayor. In the speech that he delivered in November 2007 before the conference of mayors, Bloomberg called on the feds to increase auto efficiency standards, and offered harsh words for their lack of action. And the US Senate's 35 mpg standard by 2020 that now could pass as part of the Congressional energy bill by the end of '07, is not going to cut it. His words:

The current Senate energy bill would raise the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standard to 35 miles per gallon by 2020. That’s nowhere near the leap we made from 1975 to 1985, and many foreign cars are already getting 35 miles to the gallon. Even so, U.S. automakers are trying to water down the Senate bill – and if Congress caves, you can bet the loudest cheers will be heard overseas. Raising fuel efficiency standards is the best thing we could do for U.S. automakers – and it would’ve been done years ago, but for the politics.

In NYC, Bloomberg's been moving the ball on hybrids too. In May, he announced that he's requiring all NYC taxi cabs to be hybrid or low-emission within five years.