President Obama has sent a strong, no nonsense message to the environmental community: he intends to keep his green campaign promises.

He has ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider its 2008 decision to bar Nevada and 13 other states from adopting stricter emissions standards for small trucks and cars.

For good measure, at the same time he signed the Executive Order to the EPA he ordered the federal Transportation Department to create tighter fuel efficiency standards for all 2011 vehicles.

If California gets a waiver from the EPA the state would be allowed to set emission standards stricter than national regulations. The state wants to require vehicles to average about 40 miles per gallon by 2020.

The people in the 14 states that signed on to the stricter fuel efficiency standards make up about half the American vehicle market. It is unlikely any car maker would design half its cars to be fuel efficient and the other half to have older technology. It looks like Nevada will end up getting more fuel efficient cars whether Governor Gibbons or its residents like it or not.

Despite a decline in oil prices, gasoline prices in Nevada jumped more than 20 cents since January because of reduced production at refineries.

The average price for a gallon of self-serve unleaded was $2.14, up 21 cents from January. Nevada's average fuel price is second highest in the continental United States, following California.

On February 17-19, the place to be was the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas for the WPMA annual convention and trade show exhibition,"Winning Together." The convention was well attended and, at the last minute, Las Vegas came through with sunny weather.

The management session speaker Ross Shafer was entertaining as well as informative and the PCI Compliance seminar was a big success. Sam Donaldson, a 40-year ABC News veteran speaking at the opening session, received a rousing round of applause. At the last minute the scheduled Grand Finale awards luncheon speaker cancelled and Peter Vidmar, the Olympic gymnast stepped in, keeping us spellbound with the inside story on how gymnasts train and demonstrating his amazing prowess.

The silent auction held each year brought a big number of bidders as did the WPMA Golf Open. The Scholarship Foundation also held a raffle for an ATV that was given away at the Awards Luncheon. This raised over $20,000. Bob Ogan of Wenatchee Petroleum in Wenatchee, Washington was the winner of the ATV. All of the money raised at these events goes directly to the Scholarship Foundation to fund scholarships for deserving students from the seven WPMA member states each year. The Foundation awards $4,000 to each deserving student.

The 2009 WPMA Post Convention Tour is a fabulous seven-day cruise aboard Celebrity Cruise Line's ultra-luxurious ship Infinity, sailing from Seattle, Washington through the Inside Passage to Alaska, June 12-19, 2009. Reservations must be made within the next 30 days, or as long as space lasts. WPMA has only a certain number of staterooms available on a first come-first serve basis. Call Chris Lambert at Destinations, Inc. at (801) 446-5000 or toll free at 1-800-748-4777 for more information and to book your reservations.

Originally published in the April 2009 issue of the O&A Marketing News.
Copyright 2009 by KAL Publications Inc.