President Obama announced that he is directing the EPA and Department of Transportation to develop the next phase of fuel economy standards for medium and heavy-duty vehicles. These new standards will apply to vehicles manufactured after 2018 and will include fuel saving technologies across all components of a vehicle.
He also called on Congress to use revenue from offshore oil drilling to pay for research on advanced vehicles, revive tax credits that expired in 2013 for vehicles, efficiency and renewable energy; and to implement a new tax credit for advanced vehicles and related infrastructure; set aside $1 billion for a national Climate Resiliency Fund and repeal tax breaks for fossil fuel companies. Read more here.