WASHINGTON - May 27 - American consumers will spend almost twice as much as they should for Memorial Day travel because of shortsighted automobile fuel economy policies, according to a report released today by the U.S. PIRG Education Fund.

The report, "Going Nowhere: The Price Consumers Pay for Stalled Fuel Economy Policies," details how the Bush administration is failing to take action to reduce oil demand and protect consumers from skyrocketing gasoline prices.

"Consumers will spend far more than they should have to this Memorial Day weekend," said U.S. PIRG staff attorney Gretchen DuBeau, the author of the report. "As long as outdated miles per gallon standards have us wasting oil, consumers will be vulnerable to price spikes at the gas pump," she added.

U.S. PIRG compared the current fleet-wide fuel economy average of 20.8 miles per gallon to the technologically achievable 40 miles per gallon. U.S. PIRG found that, had the achievable technology already been implemented, consumers would pay $72 million less nationally this holiday weekend, and $139,000 less in the Washington, D.C., area. Consumers nationwide would also use 1.8 million fewer barrels of oil.

"Consumers are at the mercy of volatile gasoline prices because of America's over-dependence on oil," said DuBeau. "The only way to protect consumers from skyrocketing gas prices is to reduce oil demand by making cars that go farther on a gallon of gas," she concluded.

According to an analysis by the Union of Concerned Scientists, implementing a 40 mile per gallon automobile fuel economy standard over a 10 year period would reduce transportation oil consumption by one-third by 2020, save consumers $16 billion at the gas pump, and reduce global warming emissions from cars and trucks by 20 percent.

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act requires that the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA) review and increase automobile fuel economy standards as technologically feasible every 18 months.

Although the technology exists to safely increase automobile fuel economy standards to 40 miles per gallon (mpg) in the next 10 years, NHTSA has not enacted a meaningful increase in fuel economy in almost three decades.

"With a stroke of a pen, the Bush administration could upgrade miles per gallon standards," said DuBeau. "Not only have they opposed significantly increasing these standards, they have actually proposed taking us backward by allowing larger vehicles to meet lower standards," she concluded.

"While they reject the solutions already at hand, the Bush administration and oil companies put all the blame on OPEC and increasing crude oil prices for high gasoline prices. This finger pointing overlooks a fundamental problem that we can actually solve: America is too dependent on oil," added DuBeau. "Making our cars go farther on a gallon of gas will go a long way toward reducing that dependency," she added.

DuBeau pointed out that, in addition to saving consumers at the gas pump by reducing oil demand, increasing fuel economy would also cut down on the tail pipe emissions that cause global warming.

U.S. PIRG announced the launch of a new web site, www.wecanstopglobalwarming.org, to coincide with this weekend's opening of the blockbuster movie, The Day After Tomorrow, which depicts a worst-case global warming scenario. The purpose of the web site is to educate the public about the realities of global warming, and to facilitate a call for leadership to end global warming pollution.

"While the movie is fiction, global warming is a fact," said DuBeau. "The best single step we can take to save consumers money at the gas pump, reduce America's oil dependence, and curb global warming pollution is to increase fuel economy to 40 miles per gallon for all cars and trucks over the next 10 years," added DuBeau.

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