Subject: [big campaign] America's Auto Makers: Congress Should Inflate Their Tires, Not Their Rhetoric
From: "Adam Jentleson (CAPAF)" <[email-masked]>
To: "big campaign" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 5 Aug 2008 16:51:59 -0400
List-Id: <bigcampaign.googlegroups.com>

America's Auto Makers: Congress Should Inflate Their Tires, Not Their
Rhetoric
<http://thinkprogress.org/wonkroom/2008/08/05/auto-alliance-on-tire-infl
ation/> 

Our guest blogger is Charles Territo, Director of Communications for the
Auto Alliance <http://www.autoalliance.org/>  (BMW, Chrysler, Ford, GM,
Mazda, Mercedez Benz, Mitsubishi, Porsche, Toyota, and Volkswagen).

 tires.JPG
<http://thinkprogress.org/wonkroom/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/tires.JPG>
For most of this year rising gas prices have been on everyone's mind.
Believe me, the auto industry understands very well just how much of an
impact $4/gallon gas has had on American consumers. As you may have
seen, it's having an impact on us, as well. 

Last week, the Auto Alliance and the National Auto Dealers Association
sponsored tire pressure checks
<http://gop.cha.house.gov/mediapages/photogallery.aspx?GalleryID=81>
for members of Congress and their staff who park in the Rayburn Office
Building. Surprisingly, we found that most drivers had tires between 5
and 7 pounds under inflated - some had tires under-inflated by as much
as 20 pounds. This significantly reduced their vehicle's fuel economy. 

We all share a goal of increasing fuel economy, as well as enhancing
energy security and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and the fuel
economy increases passed last year by Congress (and supported by the
Auto Alliance) will help. But consumers want ways to fight back
<http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1829354,00.html>
against high gas prices right now. By properly inflating tires, we can
have an immediate impact on the more than 245 million vehicles currently
on our nation's roads and highways.

Earlier this year, we cosponsored the Alliance to Save Energy's Drive
Smarter Challenge <http://drivesmarterchallenge.org/> . As part of this
campaign we advocated maintaining proper tire pressure as one simple
step consumers could take to increase fuel economy and reduce carbon
dioxide emissions. It's more important than you may think. For instance,
did you know...

	* The Department of Energy estimates that 1.2 billion gallons of
fuel were wasted in 2005 as a result of driving on under-inflated tires.

	* Fuel efficiency is reduced by 1% for every 3 PSI that tires
are under-inflated. 

	* Proper tire inflation can save the equivalent of about 1 tank
of gas per year. 

	* Proper tire inflation also reduces CO2 emissions.

	* Experts estimate that 25% of automobiles are running on tires
with lower than recommended pressure, because people don't know how to
check their tires or don't realize that tires naturally lose air over
time. 

Maintaining proper tire pressure may not solve our dependence on foreign
oil, but it will help
<http://thinkprogress.org/2008/08/04/mccain-obama-tires/> . Consumers
can get a few more miles to gallon, and when combined other driving and
maintenance tips, those small steps can help to make a serious
improvement in vehicle fuel economy. 

http://thinkprogress.org/wonkroom/2008/08/05/auto-alliance-on-tire-infla
tion/

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