The Colorado River, major river of North America, rising in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, U.S., and flowing generally west and south for 1,450 miles (2,330 kilometres) into the Gulf of California in northwestern Mexico.

The Colorado River basin is drying up thanks to less snow and rain.   Sadly the seven states are not working together to find an equitable agreement on sharing the shrinking amount of available water.

After Colorado River Basin states failed to meet a deadline for emergency drought reductions, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation said it would continue to work with affected states and tribes to reach an agreement.

Lake Powell and Lake Mead are at historically low levels and risk falling to “dead pool” status, which would mean there isn’t enough water to generate hydroelectricity for the tens of millions of people that rely on it, according to United Nations Environment Programme. 

The seven states that benefit from the Colorado basin have been told to develop plans to drastically reduce water use by 2 million to 4 million acre-feet, but talks have grown acrimonious. At a press conference Tuesday, federal officials said that an agreement was urgently needed and that it was also declaring a tier 2 shortage for the next water year.

Under tier 2 shortage conditions, Arizona’s annual water apportionment will be reduce by 21%, Nevada’s by 8% and Mexico’s by 7%. There is no required water savings contribution for California however.

This situation will undoubtedly lead to a court fight over how much water each state must reduce consumption. There have been growing tensions between the states of the river’s Lower Basin — California, Arizona and Nevada — and those of the Upper Basin — Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico and Utah.

A few calm meetings would be far better than a court fight.

For the current model year, standards enacted under Trump require the fleet of new vehicles to get just under 28 miles per gallon in real-world driving. The new requirements increase gas mileage by 8% per year for model years 2024 and 2025 and 10% in the 2026 model year.

The Department of Transportation released tailpipe pollution standards Friday that would require average fuel efficiency of new cars and light trucks to reach 49 miles per gallon in less than four years.

The Environmental Protection Agency, which shares responsibility for overseeing the standards and issued its own companion rule in December, estimates its tightened emissions rules would achieve roughly 40 miles per gallon in real-world conditions, up from about 32 miles per gallon under the Trump administration.

Ford, on Friday, noted its history of standing with California on mileage standards during the Trump years. In a statement, Chief Policy Officer and General Counsel Steven Croley said the company “applauds NHTSA’s efforts to strengthen fuel economy standards and create consistent benchmarks to accelerate our national transition toward a zero-emissions transportation future.”

Auto dealers say more stringent requirements drive up prices and push people out of an already expensive new-car market. NHTSA projects that the new rules will raise the price of a new vehicle in the 2029 model year by $1,087.

Automakers are investing billions of dollars to develop and build electric vehicles but say government support is needed to get people to buy them. The companies want government tax credits to reduce prices as well as more money for EV charging stations to ease anxiety over running out of juice.

I just bought a new car with a conventional internal combustion engine. The car has an EPA mileage rating of 31 MPG average city/highway.

Car manufacturers will be pushing hybrids.  Most likely no longer offering internal combustion vehicles. For those of us who can’t afford the high price of all electric cars called EVs, the solution is probably going to be buying a hybrid. These cars typically cost $2,000 to $3,000 more than comparable conventional cars, although the difference in purchase price is often offset by fuel savings.

The 2022 Honda CR–V Hybrid can achieve up to an EPA-estimated 40 mpg city / 35 mpg highway.  By 2026 the mpg will most likely be even better.  The current price is about $3,000 more than the combustion engine model.