Wildlife Federation lauds EPA fuel stickers

The National Wildlife Federation on Friday praised the use of new fuel-efficiency stickers that will start appearing on vehicles' windows in 2013 because of a new directive introduced Wednesday by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

“These new labels provide critical information for families and businesses, (showing) how to get the muscle you want while saving money and using less oil," said Zoe Lipman, senior manager for transportation and global warming solutions for the National Wildlife Federation.

"Strong new standards are a chance to turn the corner on America’s oil dependence, rev up our economic recovery, and protect our natural resources."

The fresh labels aim to expand fuel-efficiency information, cost savings and vehicle pollution data, said Mary Simms, an EPA spokeswoman.

The EPA, after receiving input from the wildlife group and many others, incorporated this information on the proposed labels.

Roger Kerson, a spokesman for the federation, said Friday that the federation pushed for three things:

1. Clear information on fuel efficiency that allows consumers to compare their vehicle against all vehicles and vehicles like the one they are considering.
2. Estimated annual fuel cost, with added new data on how much drivers can expect to save on fuel cost
3. Easy-to-understand data on the vehicle’s emissions of pollutants that cause climate change, asthma, smog and acid rain

Hawke Fracassa writes about cars from Detroit for TorqueNews.com. You can reach him at hawkefracassa@aol.com.