American Solutions Misrepresents Harvard Report On Reducing Carbon Emissions

American Solutions Claims President Obama Will Raise Gas Prices To $7 A Gallon

American Solutions for Winning the Future:

According to researchers at Harvard's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, in order to meet President Obama's stated greenhouse gas emissions reduction target, 14% by 2020, the price of gas will rise to $7 per gallon, or nearly twice what it was in the infamous summer of 2008. [American Solutions, 3/3/10, emphasis added]

$7 Dollar Gas Was A Recommendation, Not A Statement Of Fact

Harvard's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs:

Harder Than it Looks. Reducing oil consumption and carbon emissions from transportation is a much greater challenge than conventional wisdom assumes. It will require substantially higher fuel prices, ideally in combination with more stringent regulation.

Higher Gasoline Prices Essential. Reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the transportation sector 14% below 2005 levels by 2020 may require gas prices greater than $7/gallon by 2020.

[...]

The most effective policy for reducing CO2 emissions and oil imports from transportation is to spur the development and sale of more efficient vehicles with strict efficiency standards while increasing the cost of driving with strong fuel taxes. [Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, March 2010]

In Reality, Clean Energy Legislation Would Have A Negligible Effect On Gas Prices 

Clean Energy Legislation Will Increase Prices By Just Cents On The Dollar.  According to the Environmental Protection Agency: "The increase in gasoline prices that results from the carbon price ($0.13 in 2015, $0.25 in 2030, and $0.69 in 2050 under Scenario 2 - H.R. 2454) is not sufficient to substantially change consumer behavior in their vehicle miles traveled or vehicle purchases at the prices at which low GHG emitting automotive technologies can be produced." [EPA Analysis of the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 H.R. 2454 in the 111th Congress, pg 61, accessed 9/28/09; emphasis added]

• By Comparison, Gasoline Prices Raised $2.59 Under President Bush. According to the Energy Information Administration, from January 22, 2001 to July 14, 2008, the average price of a gallon of regular gasoline raised from $1.456 to $4.054. [Energy Information Administration, accessed 9/28/09]

New Fuel Efficiency Standards Would SAVE Drivers $3,000 On Gasoline.  According to USA Today: "The rules would phase in with 2012 models, when the current rules end, and escalate so that by the 2016 model year, the industry would have to average the equivalent of 35.5 miles per gallon. The administration estimates the rules would add an average of $1,100 to the price of a car but could save $3,000 on fuel over the vehicle's life." [USA Today, 9/16/09]

By 2025, A Clean Energy Standard Would Save $95 Billion On Energy & Gas Bills.  According to the Center for American Progress: "A national renewable electricity standard, a key piece of the clean energy legislation currently before Congress, would save households and businesses in every state billions of dollars in electricity and natural gas bills... The numbers come from the Union of Concerned Scientists, who earlier this year analyzed a renewable electricity standard that would aim to have 25 percent of our electricity come from renewable sources by 2025. They found that this standard would save families and businesses $95 billion in electricity and natural gas bills through 2030 and spur new investments and hundreds of thousands of new clean-energy jobs." [Center for American Progress, 5/19/09]