By JOHN M. BRODER
Published: November 28, 2007
WASHINGTON, Nov. 27 — Congressional negotiators are nearing agreement on a measure to set significantly higher fuel economy standards for cars and light trucks, according to aides and lobbyists following the talks.
A deal could come as early as Wednesday to require all passenger vehicles sold in the United States to reach a combined fleetwide average of 35 miles a gallon by 2020. If enacted into law, the measure would be the first major increase in vehicle fuel economy standards in two decades.
The legislation would allow the automakers to calculate mileage based on the size and weight of vehicles, as long as their entire line of products meets the 35-mile-a-gallon standard, satisfying a central demand by Senate sponsors of the bill.
Such a deal would also provide incentives for the three big American manufacturers to continue building small cars in this country, preserving an estimated 17,000 jobs. The United Automobile Workers union and members of Congress from automaking states insisted on that provision as a condition of supporting the broader compromise.
The Scuderi Group held an investor’s meeting at the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass. on Thursday, November 15th. Scuderi Group President Sal Scuderi (in photo, below) spent two hours detailing the company’s recent accomplishments on technology, business, and marketing fronts and candidly answering questions posed by investors on a range of topics.
Sal expressed high confidence in the results of the in-depth research and development of the Scuderi Engine conducted for the Scuderi Group by Southwest Research and other firms worldwide. He also explained how the company’s 2007 Frost & Sullivan Award for Technology Innovation has contributed significantly in recent months to widespread marketplace receptiveness to the Scuderi Engine.
In the meeting, Sal reported on progress-to-date regarding licensing talks with major OEMs and provided a detailed overview of the company’s financial plans for the next several years. Finally, gratitude was expressed to all of the investors who attended the meeting, asked great questions, and continue to be a critical part of the Scuderi Group’s ongoing success.
By Tom Shea
Update time.
Visiting subjects of past columns.
His legacy: Lifetime of ideas for a better world (Sept. 25, 2004)
Carm Scuderi died five years ago. He was 77.
His idea lives.
The son of Sicilian immigrants, he believed that you could accomplish anything you put your mind to, and instilled the same attitude in his eight children when they grew up on Springfield’s Prospect Street.
Carm was a Navy man in World War II. He had two hobbies - his family and work. Even when the family went to the beach, he’d bring a pad and pencil. He was a workaholic, but never missed an event his children were involved in. And, every night, he insisted on washing the dishes. It was his way of thanking his wife, Alvera, for another delicious meal.
After graduating in 1952 from the University of Massachusetts, Carm spent nearly 50 years inventing, developing, testing, producing and commercializing technology while working for and consulting with the Navy, Air Force, Hamilton Standard, Raytheon.
At 73, Carm decided to reinvent the internal combustion engine.
“The internal combustion engine is only 33 percent efficient,” Sal Scuderi, Carm’s second son, told me four years ago. “My father thought he could do better.”
Working with old textbooks from UMass undergraduate days, an out-of-date computer, paper, pencil and calculator, Carm came up with a two-paired cylinder connected to a gas transfer chamber.
Last month, The New York Times featured the Scuderi split-cycle engine.
It reported that the Scuderi Group of West Springfield is preparing diesel and gasoline prototypes for release by 2009.
California on Thursday said it was suing the United States government to secure approval for the state’s tough new proposals aimed at slashing vehicle greenhouse gas emissions.
At a news conference in the state capital Sacramento, Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Edmund Brown said the lawsuit had been filed over the failure of the US Environmental Protection Agency to greenlight California’s standards.
California passed legislation in 2002 requiring automakers to reduce vehicle emissions 30 percent by 2016. As many as 16 other US states have reportedly indicated they will adopt California’s emissions levels.
However, for the law to take effect, California requires approval with a waiver from the EPA, which has so far not been forthcoming, despite a request having been filed in December 2005.
“Despite the mounting dangers of global warming, the EPA has delayed and ignored California’s right to impose stricter environmental standards,” Brown told reporters on Thursday.
Gas Prices Jump Back Above $3 a Gallon
By JOHN WILEN – 1 day ago
NEW YORK (AP) — Gasoline prices jumped back above $3 a gallon at the pump Monday even as concerns about the economy and increases in crude supplies sent oil prices lower.
Retail gas prices have been slow to catch up with soaring crude prices, which have gained nearly 39 percent since late August to a trading high of $96.24 on Thursday. Gas prices only started rising steadily in mid-October.
The national average price of a gallon of gas rose 1.5 cents overnight to $3.004, and has jumped almost 25 cents in three weeks, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service.
The sharp jump in gas prices could continue if oil keeps surging to new heights.
“The consumer has been relatively isolated from these prices,” said Amanda Kurzendoerfer, commodities analyst at Summit Energy Services Inc. in Louisville, Ky.
