Trillium Commends EPA and Obama Administration on New Fuel Efficiency Standards
BOSTON, MA // August 18, 2016: Earlier this week, the Obama Administration announced stricter fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission standards for heavy duty trucks and buses.
The administration adopted new fuel efficient standards which will reduce emissions and cut costs for large-scale trucks such as tractor-trailers, delivery and passenger vans, and buses. Currently, these vehicles account for 20% of transportation-related fuel consumption and carbon emissions. The new standards are a significant part of President Obama’s efforts to address climate change and fossil fuel energy consumption. Trucks are becoming the fastest-growing source of greenhouse gas emissions in the trucking and freight industry and are contributing to a global surge in environmental pollution.
The release of these rules follow several meetings with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) organized by Ceres with participation from natural food producers and leading investors such as Trillium. The meetings urged the Obama Administration to adopt more stringent trucking standards in light of existing and emerging cost effective fuel technologies. The Phase 2 standards build an earlier set of efficiency and GHG standards for medium and heavy-duty trucks. The agency estimates savings of over 700,000 barrels of oil per day as a result of this phase’s regulation emission standards. “The Phase 2 standards are expected to lower CO2 emissions by approximately 1.1 billion metric tons…” the EPA said in an official statement.
“We eagerly welcome the new efficiency standards that will allow businesses to reduce their emissions while saving billions of dollars,” stated Brianna Murphy of Trillium Asset Management.
Trillium commends the new rules and recognizes it as a significant step towards adopting cost effective fuel technologies and reducing oil consumption in the trucking and freight industry. As a firm that uses shareholder advocacy to positively impact company policies and practices, these new rules are immensely beneficial to long-term company and shareholder interests.
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Contact:
Brianna Murphy, Trillium Asset Management, 617-532-6662, bmurphy@trilliuminvest.com
