"New regulations will allow fuel savings of $900 per year, per car."
-Minister Kent
OTTAWA, Nov. 27, 2012 /CNW/ - Canada's Environment Minister, the
Honourable Peter Kent, today announced proposed regulations to improve
fuel efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of passenger
automobiles and light trucks for model years 2017 to 2025.
"These new regulations improve fuel efficiency so that by 2025 new cars
will consume 50% less fuel and emit 50% less GHGs than a similar 2008
model, leading to significant savings at the pump," said Minister Kent.
"At today's gas prices, a Canadian driving a model year 2025 vehicle
would pay, on average, around $900 less per year compared to driving
today's new vehicles."
The proposed regulations would establish progressively more stringent
GHG emission standards for passenger automobiles and light trucks over
the 2017 to 2025 model years and would build on regulations already in
place for model years 2011 to 2016. It is expected that these
regulations will reduce GHG's by 162 megatonnes between 2017 and 2025.
The proposed regulations are aligned with stringent United States
regulations. This approach provides significant environmental and
economic benefits and preserves the competitiveness of Canadian vehicle
manufacturers within the highly integrated North American auto
industry.
While the regulations are aligned, Canada has made some unique
contributions. For example, our country included greater regulatory
incentives for advanced technology vehicles such as electric vehicles
and plug-in hybrids for model years 2011 to 2016, and both countries
are now following suit for model years 2017 to 2021.
These proposed regulations are the latest step in the government's
sector-by-sector approach to reducing GHGs. They are also an important
part of the Government of Canada's overall climate change strategy,
which aims to reduce GHG emissions by 17% from 2005 levels by 2020.
For more information on Canada's work to reduce GHGs, visit climatechange.gc.ca.
For more information and to view a backgrounder on this announcement,
please visit the Web site of Environment Canada at http://www.ec.gc.ca/.
SOURCE: Environment Canada