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Biden administration moves to protect Alaska wilderness; opening statements and first witness in NY trial; SCOTUS hears Starbucks case, with implications for unions on the line; rural North Carolina town gets pathway to home ownership.

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The Supreme Court weighs cities ability to manage a growing homelessness crisis, anti-Israeli protests spread to college campuses nationwide, and more states consider legislation to ban firearms at voting sites and ballot drop boxes.

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Wyoming needs more educators who can teach kids trade skills, a proposal to open 40-thousand acres of an Ohio forest to fracking has environmental advocates alarmed and rural communities lure bicyclists with state-of-the-art bike trail systems.

PA Environmental Group Calls Obama Auto Plan Significant Step Forward

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Tuesday, May 26, 2009   

Philadelphia - The cars and trucks of the future probably won't mean you'll have to cram your family into a subcompact to save fuel and dollars. In fact, the biggest changes in the vehicles of tomorrow may be the ones you never see.

President Obama's plan to reduce vehicle emissions and boost miles per gallon (MPG) receives high praise from the Philadelphia-based Pew Environment Group. Phyllis Cuttino, who heads Pew's U.S. Global Warming Campaign, says the changes are long overdue, and will lighten the load on the environment.

"They would raise fuel economy by 30 percent by 2016, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 900 million metric tons, which is comparable to removing about 177 million cars from the road."

Cuttino admits there's an added cost up-front for the consumer, but says it's money saved on the back end.

"The cost estimates I've heard have been between $600 and $700. Over the life of the car, the consumer's actually going to save a lot more money - and again, this isn't about putting people in smaller cars; it's about making cars and light trucks of all types more fuel-efficient."

The new policies may well represent the single most important action taken in regard to auto pollution since emissions standards were first put in place in the 1960s, she adds.

"If you are concerned about global warming; if you think that we must do something to reduce our dependency on oil and foreign oil, then you have to stand up and applaud what this administration has done."

For the auto industry, the plan is bittersweet. It will mean expensive retooling - a reinvention of sorts, of how cars and trucks are built. It also, however, will establish a national emissions standard, removing the nearly impossible task of making vehicles to meet various state-by-state regulations.



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