CITIZENS MEET TO CALL FOR CLEAN ENERGY—Rep. Earl Blumenauer addressed over 80 OSPIRG volunteers, members and supporters at a town hall-style meeting about the nation’s dependence on oil.

On Jan. 25, Congressman Earl Blumenauer addressed over 80 OSPIRG volunteers, members and supporters at a town hall-style meeting about the nation’s dependence on oil. OSPIRG volunteers in the district worked together with OSPIRG staff to organize the meeting.

A long-time supporter of improving gas mileage standards and other clean energy priorities, Congressman Blumenauer urged members of the audience to get involved to advocate cleaner sources of energy and energy efficiency.

Many problems arise from oil dependence, such as global warming, air pollution, oil spills and consumer vulnerability to price spikes.

Global warming is already having an impact here in Oregon where the sea level is rising and spring snowpack in the mountains is down 50 percent.

Instead of finding ways to reduce consumption, some are proposing to drill in pristine areas such as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, threatening important habitats with oil spills and water pollution.

Experts agree that the United States cannot drill its way out of reliance on unstable oil sources. The Persian Gulf holds 65 percent of the world’s oil reserves, the U.S. only three percent.

In order to curb our dependence on foreign oil, we must reduce our consumption overall. Given the fact that cars and light trucks account for 40 percent of all petroleum use in the U.S., one immediate solution to cut our dependence on oil is to make vehicles get better gas mileage.

A report by the National Academy of Sciences shows that each automaker could produce a fleet of cars and light trucks that meets a fuel economy standard of 40 mpg within 10-15 years using cost-effective existing technology.

By increasing to 40 miles per gallon in the next ten years we would see a host of benefits.

In 2015, it would avert 20 percent of the global warming pollution from passenger vehicles and boost the U.S. economy by saving the average car-owner between $3,000 and $5,000 in gas over the life of the vehicle.

The 40-mpg standards would also save more oil than America imports from the Persian Gulf and from drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge combined.

OSPIRG has called on Congress to address our country’s dependence on oil, and take the first step by raising the gas mileage standards on all cars, light trucks and SUVs.