CEOS want increase in fuel-efficiency standards

Detroit Free Press

By JUSTIN HYDE
FREE PRESS WASHINGTON BUREAU

December 13, 2006

A group of corporate chief executives and former military generals called Wednesday for the federal government to raise fuel economy standards and take other steps toward cutting U.S. oil imports almost in half from today’s levels by 2030.

The group, the Energy Security Leadership Council, includes the chief executives of FedEx, UPS, Dow Chemical and top executives from Southwest Airlines and Goldman Sachs, along with several retired U.S. military commanders. They contend U.S. reliance on foreign sources of energy gives enemies in other parts of the world too much leverage over the U.S. economy.

“We’re now far more vulnerable than we were in the ‘70s,” said Robert Hormats, vice chairman of Goldman Sachs’ international unit. “The disruption that could occur…could be extremely serious.”

Their main proposal would require federal regulators to consider a 4% annual increase in fuel economy standards for cars and trucks. Those increases could be put off if regulators found the industry couldn’t meet them. The group also proposed fuel-efficiency standards for heavy-duty trucks, as well as more incentives for alternatives to oil such as ethanol.