States Band Together on New Gasoline Standard

  • The partnering states want to reduce the amount greenhouse gases coming from car tailpipes. (Photo by Ben VonWaggoner)

Eleven Northeastern states are working together to create a new fuel standard that will mean lower greenhouse gases.
Julie Grant reports that means, when you fill up your car in those states, the gas won’t be quite as bad for the environment:

Transcript

Eleven Northeastern states are working together to create a new fuel standard that will mean lower greenhouse gases.
Julie Grant reports that means, when you fill up your car in those states, the gas won’t be quite as bad for the environment:

The partnering states want to reduce the amount greenhouse gases coming from car tailpipes.

Ian Bowles is Secretary of Energy with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.

He says the states would prefer that the federal government take the lead on this issue, but they’re doing what they can to limit carbon emissions from cars and trucks as soon as possible.

“If everyone waits and sits on their hands until there’s a global agreement, it’s going to take a long time to get anything done.”

Bowles expects the eleven-state agreement to spur investment into new types of ethanol and biofuels. And he says that will mean new jobs in science, engineering, and at fuel refineries.

“We’ll be creating a much bigger market for biofuels. Jobs will get created and greenhouse gasses will be cut.”

The states expect to have a legally binding agreement on the low carbon fuel standard by the end of the year.

For The Environment Report, I’m Julie Grant.

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