Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Obama Requests New Rules for Cutting Truck Pollution
President Obama recently urged his administration to develop rules to cut truck pollution. He is doing this without congressional consent. He hopes that these new regulations will drive down our nation's oil imports. Many vehicle manufactures are unsupportive of Obama's efforts for change while environmentalists are thrilled by them. The effects of Obama's decision to act independently of congress will be interesting to follow. This article should act as a good segue as we move out of a chapter concerning congress and into a chapter about the presidency.
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There's no doubt that change is hard. Each change we make nationally will be especially difficult, but this in the long term will be good for the country. It lowers our dependency on foreign oil and makes part of our transportation cleaner and more efficient.
ReplyDeleteTo me, it appears that the primary concern with the rules on the part of the American Trucking Association is that they need to be “economically achievable.” I think that we need to ensure that these requirements are indeed doable. Should it turn out that they are not, price increases will occur across the board (including groceries) because of the pivotal importance of the transportation industry.
ReplyDeleteObviously these new regulations and plans won't be happening in the too distant future, but I still think it's overall a good idea. President Obama described it as a "win-win-win" because this reduction of carbon pollution should ultimately result in lower prices for consumers, which I think will have a lot of people backing the regulations once they are drafted. It's definitely worth it to improve the fuel efficiency of these trucks if it will benefit the country as a whole, which it seems like it will.
ReplyDeleteTo me the most interesting thing about this article was the fact that Obama is able to make decisions about this issue without the approval of congress. I am glad that Obama is using his power to protect the environment. I like what Andrew said about it being "economically achievable." Obviously there needs to be consideration about whether these regulations can be put in place without making milk cost ten dollars a gallon.
ReplyDeleteI am glad to see that Obama plans to use more of his power to make improvements that will greatly help the environment. Every change that is made matters, and hopefully this is the first of many steps the United States will take in becoming more environmentally friendly. It will not be an easy process to change to significantly lower emission trucks, but in the long run it will have huge positive effects both environmentally and economically.
ReplyDeleteThe previous article, as well as this one, how Obama would like to reduce our carbon footprint before he is out of office. It is clear that he is trying to take action (however small or big it might be) into his own hands as he stated he would do so "with or without Congress." I like the aspect of driving down oil imports and moving into an energy independent nation. I understand that President Obama can legally take action under the Clean Air Act of 1970, but having the executive branch move forward on something that the legislative branch doesn't agree with will only divide our government further.
ReplyDeleteI think that Obama is working against too many people on this piece of legislation. The president vs. congress is typical, but with the opposition of vehicle manufacturers i think it would be unwise to focus on trucking when there may be other, better ways of reducing our carbon footprint. Despite this, i do think that energy efficiency and environmental regulation is important and overlooked, perhaps as a result of our natural ability to procrastinate until our situation has become desperate.
ReplyDeleteIt's clear that being environmentally conscious is something we should all do, and I think this is something that people of all political viewpoints should support. I do agree with Griffin in that the president could be opposing a lot of people with this legislation, but I also do think that it is important we reduce our carbon footprint. Being more efficient and environmentally aware is very important and I do think that legislation like this is a step in the right direction for us to limit our consumption of fossil fuels and reduce air pollution (a major problem in big cities) in order to protect the environment.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Griffin that it would be unwise for President Obama to move forward with this many people against him. He said that he would move forward "with or without Congress" but I don't think that would be a good decision. Not only is congress against him, but the trucking companies who would have to spend money and time reducing emissions. Republicans, of course, are also against anything that President Obama tries to pass. However I think that his determination to get things done is admirable.
ReplyDeleteWell how can you go wrong with a win-win-win?! I'm pretty good at math, and I calculated three wins there. Okay I'm just kidding (sorry I'm not funny but it's getting boring to read all of these serious posts—it's a blog people!) So I get it. There needs to be consideration of the economic impact, but as we discussed in Dean's article, there has to be a transition. These steps that Obama is taking towards reducing our carbon footprint have enough of a positive impact without such a dramatic change that it will shock our economy. Overall, like Katie, I believe that our county will benefit from this process economically and environmentally.
ReplyDeleteIt's good to see the president concerned with greenhouse gasses. It is unfortunate that he could not pass anything in his first term, but he is still trying showing his persistence. A 17 percent decrease by 2020 would be impressive but an 80 percent decrease sounds extremely difficult. We will need some new technology, minds, and ideas. I hope it can be done. Mr. Levi is a smart man with his comment. Pollution is a world concern and everyone needs to join in to help the environment. TREES!
ReplyDeleteI like that Obama has renewed his efforts to reduce our carbon footprint, but what I found most interesting was his perseverance "with or without congress." I, presumably like most people, would rather see our government work in a more bipartisan and cooperating manner, but with a divided government perhaps President Obama's actions are necessary. He appears to be going around congress, a phrase which doesn't particularly sit well with me, to get things done. Is that what our political system has resulted to? And what are the implications?
ReplyDeleteThe fact that the administration has finally started to focus more on lowering our dependence on foreign oil and to lower the carbon footprint of our nation as a whole. By upping the standards of how environmentally friendly this fleet of American trucks can be, we are showing change in how our nation views such topics. The single problem that comes up with this topic is that the cost for this to implemented might cause some problems at the beginning of this change but hopefully it can eventually be overlooked as we start to make our way down a path that leads to a better environment.
ReplyDeleteI'm very happy to see Obama is keeping his promise of reducing our nation's carbon footprint. With that said, we return to the problem of having an extremely divided government. The quote in the last article was interesting that “if rivals like PepsiCo and Coca-Cola or U.P.S. and FedEx or AT&T and Verizon, if they can join together on this, then maybe Democrats and Republicans can do the same.” The fact that Democrats and Republicans are seen as rivals speaks volumes of how our government is more divided than ever, and how Obama must try to improve our environment "with or without Congress." With all that said, I'm glad to see a push towards a more green America.
ReplyDeleteI am in favor of this push. I think that our dependence on other countries for oil has obviously caused a ton of problems and I think it is important to move away from this dependence. I think Obama could find some members of congress to work with and perhaps create a more coherent government. The world's current state is not fantastic, and I think that anyone who has the power to help save it, should. I think this is a great first step.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to see that Obama is working to reduce our country's carbon footprint. Although this is a somewhat small first step, I think it could be very beneficial for our country in the future. Even though the passing of this legislation would oppose a lot of people, I think it is one that is important and should be done. Hopefully this is just the first of many more steps to come in the future.
ReplyDeleteIf these proposed changes are economically reasonable for vehicle manufacturers I would be all for it. Reducing our carbon footprint is very important and I'm glad that the government is starting to make it a priority to limit greenhouse gases. Hopefully, President Obama will receive the support he needs from people who understand the important of protecting our environment for future generations.
ReplyDeleteThough I love that Obama is trying to significantly help the environment by reducing pollution given off by trucks, I think that he could run into some pretty substantial problems. One being the question of if this is even economically possible or not. We don't want to see this backfire and drive up the prices of popular products. Another problem that the president could run into is the lack of support from congress. Even though he says he's moving on with or without them I think we all know it would be of great benefit if he did have their support.
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