...well, maybe there is a 10% +/- chance that certain death won't occur. Even though an 80% chance of contracting cancer and dying from a drug would flip the panic switch at the FDA, a 90% chance of global warming is unlikely to create the same panic.
President Barack Obama will announce today that automakers must meet average U.S. fuel-economy standards of 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016, four years sooner than previously planned, a senior administration official said.
The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said in a 2007 report there's a 90 percent certainty that greenhouse-gas emissions from power plants, cars and other human activities are causing higher temperatures and sea levels, potentially leading to dangerous climate change.
Former President George W. Bush balked at the idea of reducing emissions when he took office in 2001. Many automakers including "green" Toyota concurred since large vehicles were profitable and desirable.
Fast forward nine years.
The plan would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 900 million metric tons through 2016, the senior administration official said. In 2016, meeting the standards will cost automakers $600 a vehicle in addition to the $700-a-car cost automakers face under standards in existing law, the official said.
Also in 2016, light trucks would have to meet a standard of 30 mpg, and the average for cars would be 39 mpg.
bloomberg.com
"a 90 percent certainty that greenhouse-gas emissions from power plants, cars and other human activities are causing higher temperatures and sea levels, potentially leading to dangerous climate change"...nonsense. That's based on computer models that ignore the sun's influence, the effect of clouds and water vapor, and other important factors. They also failed to predict the global cooling over the last 10 years.
Having said that, the new CAFE standards that require higher fuel efficiencies are a good move. Unlike the outrageous and unachievable demands for renewable energy from the likes of Al Gore in the next 10 or 20 years, this is doable and it won't destroy the economy.