regaining lost ground, page-5

The following was reported this morning. Perhaps there is a glimmer of hope here for OEC technolgies, particularly the combination of gas/diesel for more efficiency. Hopefully the OEC management are in there plugging their technology for trucks.
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EPA seeks to regulate carbon from trucks, buses
Published 12:42 AM, 18 Aug 2010
Updated 9:25 AM, 18 Aug 2010
Tags
Policy & Science, United States


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Reuters
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. environmental regulators sent draft rules to the White House on Friday that would for the first time cut greenhouse gas emissions from heavy trucks and buses, a government website showed.

In late May President Barack Obama directed the EPA issue rules to cut emissions from trucks. Obama has long said the Environmental Protection Agency would act to cut emissions if Congress failed to pass a climate bill. The House passed a climate bill last year but chances are slim that the Senate will pass a similar bill this year.

The administration hopes to finalize the regulation by July 2011 covering truck fuel standards for the 2014 to 2018 period.

Estimates show that large tractor trailers, which emit about a fifth of the greenhouse gases from transportation, can reduce emissions by up to 20 percent using existing technologies, the administration said.

In April, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Transportation finalized rules that would reduce emissions from cars and light trucks.

Those rules will require a 30 percent decrease in carbon emissions and a 42 percent increase in auto fuel efficiency to 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016.

The EPA said in the filing to the website that the rules on trucks and buses would "significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions from future heavy duty vehicles" by setting standards that would lead to the introduction of vehicle and engine technologies.

(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Editing by Lisa Shumaker