Road trip!

[ JUNE 1, 2010 - OKLAHOMA CITY, OK ] - With Memorial Day finally here and the summer vacation season in full swing, no one can resist a good road trip. I’m thinking The Wonder Years – a station wagon – and a mix tape, and life is good. But can you imaging a road trip with about 177 million less cars on the road? Smooth cruising!

Last week, President Barack Obama signed an executive order instructing the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Transportation to create a national fuel economy and emission standard for medium- and heavy-duty trucks – the big ones. The new policy set by these organizations will start with the 2014 models.

To get a better sense of what this might mean, we can check out what the president did last year when he similarly set a new national fuel economy and emission standard for cars and light trucks starting with the model year 2012 and lasting until 2016. Under those announced regulations, makers of cars and light trucks have to reduce greenhouse gas emission by 5 percent each year through 2016. The end result? Cars and light trucks will get a national average of about 38 miles per gallon, and pickups and minivans will get about 30 miles per gallon, which means about 35.5 miles per gallon combined for the industry.

Here’s the application: This removes about 900 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from the air – a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Think about that this weekend at the lake with your SPF 60 sunblock! This also means that America will consume 1.8 billion fewer barrels of oil. Gulf Coast anybody? Yet perhaps even more practically, it is estimated that the average car owner will save around $3,000 on costs associated with driving their vehicle. That’s plenty for that new grill you need for cooking burgers, hot dogs, and some good ribs at the lake!

So, translating this to medium- and heavy-duty trucks, here are some facts:

• Medium- and heavy-duty trucks use about 2 million barrels of oil every day.

• Medium- and heavy-duty truck get a national average of a dismal 6.1 miles per gallon.

• Medium- and heavy-duty trucks emit 20 percent or one-fifth of the greenhouse gases related to the entire transportation sector.

And no, that’s not to try and give medium- and heavy-duty trucks a bad rap. After all, they drive a major sector of our economy – just look at Interstate 40 or 35. Yet, we can, and should, get smarter and cleaner about the way we do business. Imagine: More efficient medium- and heavy-duty trucks reducing their consumption of oil reduces the costs of gasoline (for all of us). This reduces the costs of transportation overhead and makes shipping and transportation cheaper, meaning you, in turn, save more money.

Also, since one-fifth of all man-made greenhouse gas emissions related to transport come from medium- and heavy-duty trucks, any reduction in that is positive. With a reduction of 900 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions from cars and light trucks being reduced by their standards, can you imagine what that number will be when it comes to medium- and heavy-duty trucks? There are some estimates that say the potential standard would be like taking 177 million vehicles off the road – environmentally speaking, of course.

So this Memorial Day, as you hitch your boat to your car or truck and head to the lake, be safe, have fun and enjoy yourself, because each year it’s going to cost you less to go, financially and environmentally.

Jim Roth, a former Oklahoma corporation commissioner, is an attorney with Phillips Murrah P.C. in Oklahoma City, where his practice focuses on clean, green energy for Oklahoma.