As the dog days of summer continue to bake much of the country, causing record breaking drought and scorching heat, it’s time to consider a dog’s view of doubling the fuel efficiency of America’s new cars and cutting their carbon pollution in half.  Although…it does depend on the dog:

Click here to watch “Double the Mileage” – with a certain famous political dog.

As summer heat continues, we have some cool news to look forward to. Next month, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Transportation are expected to issue the final new fuel efficiency and carbon pollution standards for the new cars that will be sold between 2017 and 2025.

These standards, building on those already in place for new vehicles starting this year and running through 2016, will double the fuel efficiency and halve the carbon pollution our new vehicles emit.

The money, oil, and carbon savings from doubling efficiency are huge. In 2030 these standards will save 3.5 million barrels of oil every day, save Americans a net of $150 billion, and keep at least 640 million tons of climate pollution out of the atmosphere.

Benefits like these are why Americans continue to strongly support setting a high bar for fuel efficiency and reducing pollution.  A recent poll by the Consumer Federation of America shows that:

• 88% said the U.S. should reduce oil consumption;

• Those who said that it is a “very important” goal want to get at least five more miles per gallon fuel economy from their next vehicle;

• 74% said the new 54.5 mpg standards are a good idea;

• Significantly, 66% said they’d support the higher standards even if that meant higher sticker prices.

That strong support for strong standards was loud and clear last fall when more than 500 people turned out at hearings in Philadelphia, San Francisco and Detroit applauding the proposed standards from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Transportation.  More than 280,000 comments were sent to the Administration saying YES to strong standards.

“It is clear that consumers have a growing appetite for fuel economy,” said Mark Cooper of the Consumer Federation of America. “As more fuel-efficient vehicles penetrate the market, I fully expect the preference for even higher fuel economy to strengthen.”

And it is – the public is responding:

Sales of vehicles featuring alternative power sources also jumped during the first six months of the year as gasoline prices rose. The segment, which includes traditional hybrids, plug-in hybrids and fully electric vehicles, posted sales growth of 71 percent through June. The Toyota Prius led the segment with 126,654 unit sales, a 90 percent increase over last year.

So doubling up is great news for vehicle owners (and those of us with dogs will remember to stop for walks!)

Half-a-million jobs!  That’s the good news from a new report released today by  the Sierra Club, the Blue Green Alliance, United Auto Workers and the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE).

The report, called “Gearing Up” (PDF), confirms what many Americans – especially those in Michigan – already know. It tells a story about what happens when we act not just to protect our planet and save families money at the pump, but to ensure our auto industry is as competitive as possible.

Take political posturing out of the equation and we all know that the only way to deal with high gas prices is to use less gas. Americans know it – that’s why fuel efficient vehicles are among the top sellers in the country and why efficiency is now a top consideration for consumers looking to buy a new car.

In just three and half years, the Obama Administration has undone nearly 30 years of stagnation when it comes to raising the bar on fuel efficiency standards.  When the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Transportation issue final carbon pollution and fuel efficiency standards for vehicles that will be sold in 2017-2025, this administration will have put our new cars on the path to being twice as efficient as the fleet of vehicles sold last year. These huge steps forward would not have happened without the ability of the Administration to bring together the auto industry, auto workers, Sierra Club, and others to work on progress.

These fuel economy standards are already paying off. Consumers have better choices – including a growing variety of electric vehicles.  In Detroit and around the U.S., thousands and thousands of Americans are at work helping to build the world’s most advanced efficient cars and trucks.  More efficient and less polluting cars will redirect billions of dollars away from Big Oil’s coffers and into our pockets while also creating jobs.

And here’s our good news big number: “Gearing Up” shows that the standards for 2017-2025 vehicles will create 570,000 jobs across our economy, including 50,000 jobs in the auto industry.

But the benefits don’t stop there. By 2030 we will be saving at least 3.5 million barrels of oil per day, keeping more than 600 million metric tons of global warming pollution out of the atmosphere and saving us a net of $150 billion dollars.

“Gearing Up” is great news for those of us who are looking forward to a stronger economy and a healthier future.

Click here to watch Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune’s testimony supporting clean cars.

After a week of public hearings in Detroit, Philadelphia and San Francisco, we can safely say that cleaner, more efficient cars and trucks are a popular commodity.

More than 500 people, including concerned citizens, public health officials, veterans, small business owners, environmentalists and consumer advocates, came out to testify in support of the Obama administration’s proposal to strengthen fuel efficiency and carbon pollution standards for cars and light trucks.

Thanks to these standards from the U.S. EPA and National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA), the average new car you’ll see on the lot in 2025 will get 54.5 mpg and spew 35% less carbon pollution than the models in 2016.  That’s a big deal – and a big win for American families.

So just how broad is public support for these proposed standards?  Very!  Poll after poll has shown that Americans overwhelmingly support better fuel efficiency.  But this support is more than just a checked box on a survey – it’s real stories from real people.

When I testified in Detroit last Tuesday, I was inspired by the near-unanimous support for 54.5 mpg cars from the more than 100 people who came out to give their reasons for supporting clean cars.  Nearly everyone from the United Auto Workers’ President and members to local citizens concerned about air pollution from smog and climate disruption voiced united support for the standards.

It was great to have the hearing kicked off by Michigan Congressman John Dingell, who praised the standards and said “I am pleased that EPA and NHTSA are joining together to reach out and listen to what the American people have to say.”  The Go60 mpg coalition, which the Sierra Club is a part of, was featured in the New York Times’ piece on the hearing.

In Philadelphia last Thursday, we saw record turnout for an EPA hearing with more than 150 people coming out to stand up for clean cars including Sierra Club President Robin Mann.  There were so many moving testimonies – including Retired Lieutenant General Richard Zilmer, who spoke about his first hand experience with the dangers of depending on a fuel supply line in Iraq, and Colleen Kennedy, a local resident with serious health conditions that have been exacerbated by smog pollution from cars.

Finally on Tuesday of this week, EPA and NHTSA held their last public hearing in San Francisco where Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune testified and called these standards the “biggest single step we’ve ever taken to move beyond oil and tackle climate disruption.”  Check out the rest of his testimony here.

The lone voice of opposition at all three hearings:  the National Automotive Dealers Association (NADA).  Yet with several individual dealers coming out to testify in support of the standards, even the industry publication Automotive News knows that NADA needs to stop exaggerating the costs and underselling the benefits of the standards.

The Sierra Club live-tweeted each hearing from @SierraClubLive.  Here are some of the highlights:

• @SierraClubLive NADA rep claiming that car buyers don’t look at mpg. Yet 3/4’s of Americans support strong #cleancars standards: bit.ly/xpL2sT
• @SierraClubLive Chevy dealer Thiel: “We’re going to go on with this until 2025 and I’ll tell ya what, we’re ready for it!” #cleancars
• @SierraClubLive Big shout out to the Raging Grannies for telling us to clean up our cars in song at #Detroit hearing! #cleancars
• @SierraClubLive For a sense of the ratio of those supporting vs opposing #cleancars standards today, see the score from Brady vs Tebow last wkd
• @SierraClubLive Robin Mann: “The planet is screaming and the time has come for us to stop turning a deaf ear.” #cleancars #beyondoil
• @SierraClubLive Rabbi Waskow: “I call it global scorching. Warming is too pleasant.” #cleancars #CleanAir #Philly
• @SierraClubLive .@Sierra_Club volunteer Bryan Crenshaw shows a picture of his son. 54.5 mpg is about our kid’s future. #cleancars pic.twitter.com/2jeOt5C0
• @SierraClubLive Local City Council Pres. Jeanette MacNeille: “For me as an asthmatic, #cleancars mean less trips to the emergency rm”pic.twitter.com/XRlzhu86
• @SierraClubLive Wow, amazing defense of the role of @EPAgov & #cleancars from Colleen Kennedy who has a serious heart condition.pic.twitter.com/Su93ArSf
• @SierraClubLive #cleancars are incredibly popular! Support vs opposition at today’s #Philly hearing about 100 to 1. NADA took its toys & went home
• @SierraClubLive Brune: As a father of two young kids, I’m relieved to know that the cars they’ll drive in the years to come will use less oil. #cleancars

These hearings were not the only opportunity the public has to voice support for strong new clean cars standards.  You can send your comments until February13th.  Don’t wait — help us show how broad and deep support is for clean cars!

And, if you enjoyed reading these tweets from the clean cars hearings, follow @SierraClubLive and you can check out yesterday’s live updates from the DC Auto Show.  After years of saying they couldn’t make new cars or trucks that use less oil, it was clear from the showroom floor that the auto industry is in a race to do just that.

We’ve been enjoying the news this week that will continue improving our nation’s transportation woes.

If you’ve ever spent time at a car dealership perusing the new vehicle’s window labels, you got a little more help today. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Transportation just unveiled new vehicle labels for new cars that will make things a little easier to understand (That’s EPA’s Lisa Jackson and DOT’s Ray LaHood checking out the new labels in the photo above).

The new labels “provide more comprehensive fuel efficiency information, including estimated annual fuel costs, savings, as well as information on each vehicle’s environmental impact.” EPA’s label website allows consumers to explore the new information and customize the data to their region.

Overall, the new labels are a good step toward smarter and clearer labeling for consumers – the first improvement in decades (click the label above to see a bigger version). Smart labels make smart consumers and it’s important that consumers have information that will help them make the right choices and save at the pump and cut our addiction to oil.

Unfortunately the labels fail to use an easier to read grade-letter system or specify emissions from charging electric vehicles.

With today’s announcement, the Environmental Protection Agency missed an opportunity to give consumers the clearest design possible through letter grades for new cars and light trucks. The letter grade was a winner with our members and supporters but we are deeply disappointed that EPA has given into the auto industry’s push against clear and easy-to-read labels for consumers. We are also disappointed that the new labels fail to inform consumers on the emissions caused by charging electric vehicles.

In some good news from this week, yesterday we saw the Obama Administration announce a directive that the federal fleet of vehicles must become more advanced and less dependent on oil. The directive “will move the government to purchasing 100 percent alternative fuel vehicles by 2015 and drive agencies to meet the required 30 percent decrease in petroleum consumption by 2020…” (We do hope those infamous flexible fuel vehicles that can run on both gasoline or E-85 or other fuel actually run on the alternatives.)

To get started agencies were directed to drive the right vehicle for the job – in other words no more driving gas guzzling big cars and SUVs when they are not needed. In addition, the federal fleet is also kicking things off with 100 electric vehicles to be used by government agencies in five cities.

“As the nation’s largest vehicle fleet operator, the President’s fleet management directives and GSA’s electric vehicle pilot will cut the Federal fleet’s petroleum use and support the development of domestic, clean energy technologies – supporting the President’s goal of cutting imports by a third by 2025 and continuing to build a 21st century clean energy economy, while also saving taxpayer dollars,” said Nancy Sutley, Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality.

Finally, do you have high standards? The Sierra Club is part of the Go60mpg Coalition, which just released some great new ads all about having some standards – in this case, telling the Obama Administration that we need 60 mile per gallon cars by 2025. Here are the three ads (click them to enlarge):

Here’s the text from the ads being put in newspapers:

Americans have high standards. Our cars should, too. This fall, President Obama can help America reclaim its proud automotive heritage by raising fuel efficiency and auto pollution standards to 60 miles-per-gallon by 2025. Strong standards will save us billions at the gas pump, clean up our air, and put Americans back to work building a new generation of vehicles that create prosperity, not oil dependence. So let’s restore our great automotive tradition of innovation and excellence. American technology and know-how can make any new car, truck, or SUV cleaner and more fuel-efficient. All we have to do is hit the accelerator.  If you believe in high standards, join us at Go60MPG.org

Have you asked for some standards yet?