The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org. February 19, 2014 Obama Orders Better Fuel Efficiency for Trucks ----------------------------------------------- President Obama has announced a new round of steps to develop tighter fuel efficiency standards for trucks. Speaking in Maryland Tuesday, Obama said he has instructed federal agencies to develop higher standards for medium and heavy trucks by March 2016. President Obama: "Heavy duty trucks account for just 4 percent of all the vehicles on the highway. I know when you're driving sometimes it feels like it's more. But they're only 4 percent of all the vehicles. But they're responsible for about 20 percent of carbon pollution in the transportation sector. And improving gas mileage for these trucks are going to drive down our oil imports even further. That reduces carbon pollution even more, cuts down on businesses' fuel costs, which should pay off in lower prices for consumers." .