JOHN H. ADAMS, cofounder of the Natural Resources Defense Council, whom President Obama recently selected to receive a 2010 Presidential Medal of Freedom, saying: "If the planet has a lawyer, it's John Adams."
Idea: A fuel-stingy car in every garage
He wants to require US cars to get 60 miles per gallon of gas by 2025. "It's a solution that will save the planet, sustain America's independence, and rebuild our economy," says Mr. Adams. He also sees it as a primary way to fight global warming, extracting a "giant chunk of carbon from the atmosphere."
Federal fuel economy standards are already in place that will boost mileage requirements to 35.5 m.p.g. by 2016, up 42 percent. But Adams wants to stretch that to 60 m.p.g. by 2025. (In October, the Obama administration acknowledged that it would be feasible for Detroit to increase standards to 62 m.p.g. by 2025.) He estimates that would cut oil consumption by 44 billion gallons by 2030, put $100 billion back into drivers' pockets, and stem the flow of cash being sent overseas to import oil from the Middle East. "The 60-m.p.g. goal is at the intersection between what is achievable technologically – and what is necessary," he says. "It's a national standard that can spread globally and be a steppingstone to even higher fuel standards in future."
