DOT Docket Facility
Attn: Docket No. NHTSA 2003-16128
Room PL-401
400 Seventh St., S.W.
Washington, DC 20590-0001

RE: My comments on Docket #2003-16128--Reform CAFE Standards

Dear Department of Transportation,

I am very concerned about energy use in the U.S. and its effect on our national security and our environment. Reforms to the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards could have a profound effect on our nation’s use of fossil fuels, and I urge you to reform CAFE standards to close loopholes and raise fuel economy.

Improving fuel economy is critical to reduce our nation's oil dependence and to curb global warming. The U.S. leads the world in oil use and greenhouse gas pollution, and our gas guzzling cars and trucks are partly to blame. Even though automakers have the technology to make cars and trucks more efficient, fuel economy of new cars and light trucks is lower today than it was more than twenty years ago.

In the U.S., cars and light trucks, including SUVs, pickups and most minivans, consume nearly as much oil as Saudi Arabia produces, and emit more than 300 million tons of carbon into the atmosphere each year. Cars and light trucks alone are responsible for about 20 percent of our nation's total carbon dioxide pollution. Today Americans import three times as much oil as we did in 1985.

As you consider reforms to fuel economy standards, you must be sure that any changes result in reduced oil consumption and increased fuel conservation. Proposed reforms to CAFE could actually hinder oil conservation if they delay fuel economy gains or extend loopholes, like those that exempt the most fuel-thirsty trucks -- including big pickup trucks -- from regulation. But reforms could help if you act quickly to close loopholes and significantly raise fuel economy standards.

Thank you for considering my comments.