The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Wednesday, September 16, 2009 _ 7A The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Wednesday, September16, 2009 - 7A .Administration unveils rules for fuel efficiency Standards call for new vehicles to average 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016 WASHINGTON (AP) - With global talks on climate change looming, the Obama administra- tion sought to gain momentum yesterday by unveiling its plan to require better gas mileage for cars and trucks and the first-ever rules on vehicle greenhouse gas emis- sions. 1 Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson released the proposed regulations at the White House, the follow-up to President Barack Obama's announcement in May that the government regulations would link emissions and fuel econ- omy standards. "This action will give our auto companies some long-overdue clar- ity, stability and predictability," Obama said Tuesday during a visit to a General Motors plant in Lord- stown, Ohio. "This marks asignificant advance in our work to protect health and the environment and move our nation to a sustainable economy in the future," Jackson said. The new standards call for the auto industry's fleet of new vehicles to average 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016. The proposal will cover vehicle model years 2012 through 2016, allowing auto companies to comply at once with all federal require- ments as well as standards pushed by California and about a dozen other states. The administration estimated the requirements would cost up to $1,300 per new vehicle by 2016 - but that it would take just three years to pay off that investment and that the standards would save more than $3,000 over the life of the vehicle through better gas mileage. Jackson said the new standards will have the effect of taking 42 million cars off the road. The proposal is expected to increase vehicle fuel efficiency by about5percentannuallyandreduce greenhouse gas emissions by nearly CIRCLE K From Page 1A "I felt bad for all the members having to repaint, but it did bring a lot of our members together," she said. "It's a fun activity, and most of the people that were painting had the chance to see another aspect of what our orga- nization is about." Circle K repainted the stolen Diag boards. Goelz said each one took approximately five to six hours to paint. "It's a monetary loss," he said. "We also put a lot of time and effort into doing this. A lot of the members help out and its really hurtful for them to see their work just ripped down." In addition to the money lost and hurt feelings, Goelz said there have also been other psy- chological effects on members. "It's caused a kind of obses- HALFWAY INN From Page 1A healthier menu options. The expanded menu, which included organic pizza, popcorn, pattie melt, specialty coffees, na- chos, salads, sandwiches and par- faits, was well received by students when tested during winter term of last year, Logan said. Sophomore Ionut Gitan, a mem- ber of the East Quad Music Co-op, appreciates the basement's exclu- sive function as a lounge because his group can play a couple times POST OFFICE From Page 1A will come down to USPS "dollars and cents." The post office's recent decline in profits has been a result of a number of issues. In addition to the effects of a down economy, many people have simply stopped sending letters through the mail, opting instead for e-mail. "Things you could do at the post office, you could do right at home at your home computer in 950 million metric tons. The plan would also conserve 1.8 billion bar- rels of oil,Jacksonsaid. Administration officials noted that the new standards are four yearsaheadofa20071awthatwould have required the auto industry to meet aS3 mpg average in 2020. The proposed rules are expected to provide automakers some flex- ibility in meeting the requirements in exchange for building advanced vehicles. Some luxury automakers and foreign manufacturers who sell a limited number of vehicles in the United States could meet a less-stringent standard in the early years of the regulations. The agencies must finalize the proposal by March 30 to give auto- makers enough planning time for the regulations to take effect in the 2012 model year. Yesterday's announcement could provide the Obama administration momentum on climate change in advance of a series of high-level talks on a new international agree- ment to curb heat-trapping gases and a speech by the President next week on global warming at a special U.N. summit. The administration'sleadclimate negotiator just last week acknowl- edged that negotiations have so far failed to bridge the divide between developed and developing nations, sayingthat action on the part of the U.S. by passing legislation to limit greenhouse gases was urgently needed. But with the bill delayed in theSenatebythehealthcare debate, the chances that Congress will act before more than 180 nationsagather in Copenhagen, Denmark in early December to work on a new treaty are growing dimmer. The new fuel economy stan- dards, in the meantime, could serve as a placeholder - a concrete step that the Obama administration is taking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In another prelude to Copen- hagen, the Obama administration announced Tuesday that the U.S., Mexico and Canada would ask 195 nations that ratified a U.N. ozone treaty to enact mandatory reduc- tions in hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, powerful greenhouse gases used as coolants in refrigerators and air conditioners. sion," he said. "There was a false alarm. The SORC e-mailed us tell- ing us that ourDiag board was sto- len again, so we went out and ran around lookingfor it. But it turned out it wasn't stolen. It's just get- ting into everyone's head." Goelz said though it has been affecting the group emotion- ally, members hope the incidents aren't a demonstration against the organization's goals. "It's really hurting our morale, and we're confused as to why someone would be targeting us," he said. "We think what we're doing is good so we hope it's not a reflection on our organization." Kittikul said she tries to walk past the group's Diag boards as often as she can to make sure they're still there. "I hope it doesn't happen again, but you never know," she said. "We didn't think it would happen again when the school year started, but it did." a month without encountering any scheduling difficulty. Despite a natural resistance to change, Logan has seen a generally positive response. "Students and staff seem posi- tive about the change because Halfway Inn remains a great com- munity space," Logan said. "Plus, they have a better caf6 operation upstairs that also serves as a place for community activities." Stauffer validated Logan's per- ception. "It's going to be a lot better," Stauffer said. "(The old place) was called 'the Half-ass' for a reason. the middle of the night even if you wanted to," said Ed Moore, man- ager of communications for the Detroit district of USPS. "Postal services across the board are looking at offices we could con- solidate to make things more effi- cient," he continued. "We steadily have experienced a decline in mail volume and we just have way too many facilities across the nation to sustain the number of post offices that we have." - Nicole Aber, Olivia Carrino and Jenna Skoller -contributed to this report. cHRis DZOMBAK/Daily Bill Weihl, the 'Green Energy Czar' for Google, speaks to students and faculty yesterday in the Dana Building. Goo e's 'Green Ener Czar'talks COmpany's projects in campus visit Bill Weihl talked about the role of private companies in future of energy By VALIANT LOWITZ Daily StaffReporter Google "Green Energy Czar" Bill Weihl gave the keynote address at the University's 14th annual Energy Fest yesterday. The lecture, titled "Invent- ing aClean Energy Future at Google," focused primarily on Google's newly launched green initiatives. Weihlheadsthegreenenergydivi- sion at Google, which means he over- sees the research and development of new technologies with which to reduce not just Google's carbon foot- print but also world's carbon impact at large. The speech began with a discus- sion of Google's latest energy pro- gram, RE