Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
continuous improvement in program management, it will take
comment on the draft solicitation, with a plan to issue a final
solicitation by the fall of 2013.
Instituting a Federal Quadrennial Energy Review
: Innovation and
new sources of domestic energy supply are transforming the nation's
energy marketplace, creating economic opportunities at the same time
they raise environmental challenges. To ensure that federal energy
policy meets our economic, environmental, and security goals in this
changing landscape, the Administration will conduct a Quadrennial
Energy Review which will be led by the White House Domestic
Policy Council and Office of Science and Technology Policy,
supported by a Secretariat established at the Department of Energy,
and involving the robust engagement of federal agencies and outside
stakeholders. This first-ever review will focus on infrastructure
challenges, and will identify the threats, risks, and opportunities for
U.S. energy and climate security, enabling the federal government to
translate policy goals into a set of analytically based, clearly
articulated,
sequenced
and
integrated
actions,
and
proposed
investments over a four-year planning horizon.
II. Building a 21
st
-Century Transportation Sector
Increasing Fuel Economy Standards
: Heavy-duty vehicles are currently
the second largest source of greenhouse gas emissions within the
transportation sector. In 2011, the Obama Administration finalized the first-
ever fuel economy standards for Model Year 2014-2018 for heavy-duty trucks,
buses, and vans. These standards will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by
approximately 270 million metric tons and save 530 million barrels of oil.
During the President's second term, the Administration will once again partner
with industry leaders and other key stakeholders to develop post-2018 fuel
economy standards for heavy-duty vehicles to further reduce fuel consumption
through the application of advanced cost-effective technologies and continue
efforts to improve the efficiency of moving goods across the United States.
The Obama Administration has already established the toughest fuel
economy standards for passenger vehicles in U.S. history. These standards
require an average performance equivalent of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025,
which will save the average driver more than $8,000 in fuel costs over the
