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Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards are being implemented by the decree of President Obama, at
the behest of America's left-wing environmentalists. Small cars will be the only cars available under
Obama's plan. Individual liberty and consumer freedom have been displaced by
rabid
irrational
environmentalism,
mostly in an effort to "save the Earth," which is a delusional goal in itself.
America has plenty of petroleum
and natural gas available, which could be turned into affordable gasoline, if these same
environmentalists would just get out of the way and
let the oil companies produce it. Of course, President Obama will still travel in a multi-car motorcade wherever he goes, unless he's in a helicopter or a jumbo jet, so the new standards are for us, not for him. For years, it has been widely known that small cars are inherently more unsafe than larger vehicles. Inevitably, more people will die on America's highways as a result of this misguided policy. The people who are pushing this nonsense, in many cases, are the same people who used to chant "No blood for oil" during the recent wars in Iraq. Running Cars on Water? A number of studies over the years concluded that no more than 40% of the chemical energy contained in gasoline was being converted by the internal combustion engine into motion. Why only 40%? Because any chemical process is inefficient — and especially a chemical process as clumsy as exploding gasoline vapor. Once you have converted that chemical energy into rotation, you lose some of it because of friction in the driveline, wind resistance against the body of the car, and flexing of the tires. The President's New Cars. Even if there is no rebound effect [from CAFE standards], my colleague Pat Michaels finds that global temperatures will only be reduced by 0.005° Celsius by 2050 and 0.0078° Celsius by 2100 once you plug those emissions reductions into the computer models used by the IPCC. (These are thousandths of a degree, mind you.) Of course, proponents contend that U.S. action on fuel efficiency will lead to like action abroad. Well, good luck with that. Driving America: Your Car, Your Government, Your Choice. If asked whether he or she would like a prospective new car to get 40 miles per gallon and still meet all his or her other needs, any consumer would say "Yes." This is what CAFE advocates promise — a no-cost, penalty-free boost in fuel economy provided through government regulation. Of course, like all purveyors of the proverbial free lunch, they cannot deliver. Obama's Five-percent Folly. The Obama administration Tuesday [9/15/2009] issued final rules requiring U.S. automakers to increase their fleets' average fuel economy by five percent a year to meet a federally mandated 35.5 mpg by 2016. (American pants makers will also be required to sell slacks with an average waste size of 32 by 2016 and home builders will be required to sell homes averaging 1,500 square feet. Just kidding. ...but what's the difference?) 'Put nothing in writing,' Browner told auto execs on secret White House CAFE talks. Carol Browner, former Clinton administration EPA head and current Obama White House climate czar, instructed auto industry execs "to put nothing in writing, ever" regarding secret negotiations she orchestrated regarding a deal to increase federal Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-WI, is demanding a congressional investigation of Browner's conduct in the CAFE talks, saying in a letter to Rep. Henry Waxman, D-CA, that Browner "intended to leave little or no documentation of the deliberations that lead to stringent new CAFE standards." The Hidden Death Toll of Higher CAFE Standards. With all that the Obama administration has been hitting us with of late, the news about CAFE and how it will affect us has been given far less coverage than it deserves. I wonder if Obama's motive is to flood the field so as to slip stuff like this by us. ... What we're being sold on is lower fuel consumption for our cars which will lead to less "global warming." The science surrounding the global warming scare is questionable at best, as has been covered in many venues. So CAFE has a questionable goal from the start. Banning the pickup truck: The wise and powerful wizard Obama, having loaned taxpayer money to Detroit to "bail them out" — thus avoiding simple bankruptcy, where the firms might have shed their overly costly union contracts and emerged to renewed profitability — now simply decrees what kind of cars Detroit will make. ... The chutzpah here, the arrogance, is astounding. Does this man really believe he has the whole nation hypnotized — that he can say one thing while doing just the opposite? The Myth of Ever Increasing Fuel Economy. By proposing a set limit for economy on all classes of passenger vehicles, Barack Obama has basically said one of two things: In 2016, he wants only economy cars to be sold in the US or he is instructing car companies to squeeze gas from a stone. Since he cannot change the laws of physics, I envision the date those proposed standards take effect will either be repealed by the next administration, or continually be delayed. This is just another dictate similar to all the rest of Obama's plans: not based in reality, but wishful thinking. Obama Motors: Costly, Bureaucratic, and Pointless. It is overwhelming to consider the ways this new mandate will harm the American economy. This stealth energy tax will significantly increase the cost of every single new car on the market. Early reports suggest that consumers can expect to pay between $1,000 and $3,000 more for small cars and up to $5,000 more for large cars. ... The mandate demonstrates just how seriously the feds are taking their new role as car company chief: The government isn't just going to make decisions about how best to run their operations. They're also going to limit your choice of automobile and force you to pay more in the process — that is, those who can still afford a new car. Obama Motors: The Cars You Don't Want at a Price You Can't Afford. When President Obama took office, he got a new car -- an 8 mile-per-gallon custom Cadillac limousine. The reason his car gets such poor fuel economy is that it is designed to protect the Commander-in-Chief from multiple threats. ... Because the car's armor and accessories weigh so much, the car is powered by a 6.5 liter diesel engine. ... President Obama didn't have the luxury of choosing a fuel-efficient car. His car was chosen for him based on several factors, most importantly the need to protect the President of the United States. Unfortunately, with this new national fuel efficiency standard, President Obama is not giving Americans the ability to select the car of their choosing. Fuel Standards Are Killing GM. General Motors can survive bankruptcy far more easily than it can survive President Barack Obama's ambitious fuel economy standards, which mandate that all new vehicles average 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016. The actual Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) results will depend on the mixture of fuel-thrifty and fuel-thirsty vehicles consumers choose to buy from each manufacturer — not on what producers hope to sell. Obama Announces New Fuel Mileage Restrictions. "We will keep America healthier, cut tons of pollution from the air we breathe, and make a lasting down payment on cutting our greenhouse gas emissions," said EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson in a May 19 press statement. "Lisa Jackson talking about keeping America healthier through these restrictions is sadly ironic," said Jay Lehr, science director for The Heartland Institute. "Because fuel economy restrictions force vehicles to be lighter and less crashworthy, the National Research Council reports that existing standards kill approximately 2,000 people per year. "These new restrictions will likely be a death sentence for about 2,000 more Americans each and every year," Lehr noted. Global warming fuel rules put freeze on automakers. The usual rule in America — even in rough-and-tumble Washington, D.C. — is: "You don't kick 'em when they're down." So why — with the American car industry practically on its death bed — is the Obama administration stomping it hard with costly new emissions control mandates? The Newest Unnecessary 'Car' Fad. A collaborative effort between General Motors and Segway Inc. debuted Tuesday, April 7, in New York: the new PUMA (Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility vehicle). With the assistance of GM, Segway did something everyone thought was absolutely impossible: They made the Segway even dorkier. Small cars kill. President Obama's push to force Americans into smaller cars ignores one big problem — small cars are less safe than big cars. Ignoring this fact will cost lives. Mr. Obama announced new miles-per-gallon regulations on May 19 that mandate that automobiles achieve 42 mpg by 2016. 'World's cheapest car' coming to US. India's Tata Motors hopes to offer the Nano, dubbed the world's cheapest car, in the United States within two years, its chairman said. "It will need to meet all emission and crash standards and so we hope in the next two years we will be offering such a vehicle in the U.S," Ratan Tata told a panel at the Cornell Global Forum on Sustainable Global Enterprise late Wednesday. The Editor says... It will be amusing to see how much the US emission and crash standards add to the price of the car. Enviro-idiocy. I always knew that if we just waited long enough, the enviro-twits would start self-selecting themselves from the gene pool. ... This was inevitable, given the green movement's inability to grasp such complexities as cause and effect. Remember when they started demanding better gas mileage in cars? The U.S. government passed such laws and the car companies reacted by reducing the amount of metal in vehicles and making the cars smaller and smaller. Now there are automobiles on the road today that resemble nothing so much as a skateboard with a seatbelt... Obama's Transportation Secretary Says He Wants to 'Coerce People Out of Their Cars'. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told a group of reporters at the National Press Club on Thursday [5/28/2009] that he wants to "coerce people out of their cars." In Newsweek magazine last week, nationally syndicated columnist George Will published a piece critical of Lahood, entitled, "Ray LaHood, Transformed — Secretary of Behavior Modification." Transportation Secretary: 'Coerce People Out of Their Cars'. I applaud the Secretary's honesty, as I deplore the elitist mentality that seeks to coerce Americans. I hope that my fellow lab rat Americans will wake up before it is too late. We live in an American where the authorities will bully us into lifestyles they have chosen. I Have Seen the Future of the Automobile — and It [Stinks]. If your idea of a car is something bigger than a penalty box, or more powerful than a moped, or maybe slightly fun to drive, then I suggest you get yourself down to your local dealer (assuming he hasn't already folded), pronto, and buy yourself something pretty. It might just be your last chance for a good long while. President Obama put his signature to new CAFE rules last week, requiring that by 2016, automakers must meet fleet-wide gas mileage averages of 39 mpg for cars and 30 for trucks. This is easy enough to accomplish — build smaller vehicles with smaller engines. Little Green Cars. Get ready folks: America is about to own a car company. As of Monday [6/1/2009], we the taxpayers will own more than 70 percent of GM. Whether the company will be formally renamed Government Motors remains to be seen. But that's what it will be. Instead of putting the failed car enterprise into bankruptcy six months ago — where Carl Icahn or Wilbur Ross could have bought it — the Bush administration chose Bailout Nation. Under Team Obama, that bailout has morphed into full-scale government ownership. Car Crazy. All that's left to arrive at the President's new destination for the American way of driving are huge, unanswered questions about technology, financing and the marketability of cars that will be small and expensive. Start with technology. The President's proposed standards would raise fuel economy goals higher and faster than even the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration believes is practical. Coming to Your Garage: Le Car. Finally, Americans can start moving forward?albeit in small, unsafe, state-mandated, subsidized pieces of junk. We all remember a time when we drove around in nearly any variety of automobile desired. Well, thank goodness we're getting past that kind of anarchy. Rejoice, my fellow citizens, in the forthcoming automobile emissions and efficiency standards, even if they happen to add more than $1,000 to the cost of your average car. Obama at the Auto Buffet. With his latest installment of ever-higher fuel mileage requirements for the auto industry, Barack Obama embraces a momentary, crisis-spawned expansion of the art of the possible, unleavened by any art of the rationally desirable. Detroit is dependent on Washington loans for survival. The industry's lobbyists and its congressional allies have collapsed in a heap, offering no resistance. CEObama: The Car Czar. Is there really a consumer preference for smaller vehicles? Apparently not. Edmunds.com reports that in 2008, sales of fuel-efficient hybrids dropped 10.3 percent. Small cars are languishing on dealer lots, The Wall Street Journal notes. That's astounding, since throughout 2008 the price of gasoline reached levels most Americans had never dreamed it could. Yet as soon as gas prices tumbled, so did hybrid sales. Meanwhile, in November GM had workers at its auto plant in Texas — the only one where its big SUVs are made — working overtime to produce the vehicles that people were actually buying. Half the cars sold in the U.S. in December were SUVs. Fuel efficient cars can kill you. Forgive us for being the skunk at the White House party, but nobody there said anything about the most important consequence of President Obama's widely lauded decision to increase the national Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standard. Namely, that thousands more Americans will die or be grievously injured in auto accidents, thanks to the mandate that new vehicles average no less than 35.5 mpg by 2016. Obama Nails the Coffin Shut. [Scroll down] Even the Obama people concede the new mileage standards will cost American consumers about $1,600 per vehicle by 2016 — in effect, a massive tax increase in the middle of a neo-Depression. The difference is this tax increase will be optional. People can avoid it by avoiding new cars — which will make it that much harder for the car industry to recover from the catastrophic state it finds itself in right now, with sales down anywhere from 30-50 percent depending on the make. Pure genius! This Isn't About Oil or the Planet! It's About Cutting Us Down to Size. The assault is on your liberty and your freedom, and it's, of course, under the guise of taking care of you. You're not competent enough to buy the right kind of car; you're not competent enough to buy the right kind of food; you're not competent enough to bank at the right bank; you're not competent enough to do anything. Government has to make these decisions for you because otherwise you will destroy the planet. Emission Control. The administration announced Tuesday [5/19/2009] that it wants to increase car mileage standards. That will cause an inevitable increase in carnage on our highways, and could kill a car company or two. Deadly Dreams in Tiny Cars. According to MSNBC, President Obama is enjoying amazing support from "an uncommon alliance of auto executives, union leaders and environmental activists" concerning is new proposal to raise mileage standards and curb vehicle emissions. But if you look at this support, you can see why it's as pathetic as spoilers on a Yugo. Of course, the auto executives are behind it, because the government is paying them to be behind it. Gaseous Emissions. Barack Obama was not the candidate in last year's presidential race who reminded us the most of a used-car salesman — that distinction went to his eventual running mate, Joe Biden. ... Obama's hard sell — "This is a winning proposition for folks looking to buy a car" — is premised on some sketchy math. For one thing, experts outside the administration say the added per-vehicle cost could go as high as $8,000. You can't save money getting more miles to the gallon if you can't afford the car in the first place. If It's a Smart Car, Why Does It Look So Stupid? It's 8 feet of automotive amusement wrapped around a rockin' "3-cylinder, 1-liter gasoline powered engine." OK, that's only impressive if you like driving around in a golf-cart with sides or you find a riding mower cooler than a Maserati. ... It's already the car of the present for micro Europeans, but if environmentalists have their way, it might be the kind of car that will be your future. There's really only one problem — even this dorky motor scooter of a car doesn't meet Barack Obama's new mileage standards. Obama's Euro Dream Cars. Explicit in the Obama administration's new mpg edict is Euro-envy (a sentiment that informs much of this president's economics). If the Europeans can drive 39 mpg cars, why can't we? Yes, European cars average 39 mpg. That's under the duress of $7-a-gallon petrol. And on a smaller continent with less space and narrower roads. And ... in vehicles less capable and considerably more expensive than ours. Light Cars Are Dangerous Cars. The national press has uncritically reported that the new standards will make cars "cleaner." In fact, the rules could impose substantial costs in terms of urban air pollution and human life. ... The Obama fuel efficiency plan may also contribute to a significant increase in highway deaths as vehicles are required to quickly meet the new CAFE standard and will likely become lighter in weight as a result. ... Specifically, the NRC estimated that in 1993 there were between 1,300 and 2,600 motor vehicle crash deaths that would not have occurred if cars were as heavy as they were in 1976. Small cars get poor marks in collision tests. Micro cars can give motorists top-notch fuel efficiency at a competitive price, but the insurance industry says they don't fare too well in collisions with larger vehicles. Fuel economy zealots can kill you. Small Cars Are Dangerous Cars. The super-high efficiency minicar has become the Holy Grail for many environmentalists. But on Tuesday, a new study on minicar safety tossed some cold water on the dream. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) reported that in a series of test crashes between minicars and midsize models, minis such as the Smart car provided significantly less protection for their passengers. The tests did not involve the much ballyhooed mismatches between subcompacts and Hummers, but measured the effect of relatively modest differences in size and weight. Clown Cars. In exchange for lower emissions of CO2, which is a pollutant based on politics, not reality, and is such a weak greenhouse gas that man's puny contribution can't possibly have any effect on climate, we'll have more death on the roads. Is this the trade-off that the country should be willing to accept? Do we really want more of these minis and micros being knocked around and crushed by bigger automobiles? Are we willing to see these cars lose deadly battles with utility poles, guard rails and concrete walls? A global warming scam: Years of improved engine efficiencies have reduced emissions per ton-mile, but now the only practical way to further reduce carbon dioxide emissions is to push motorists into ever smaller vehicles that use less fuel per mile, or expensive hybrids and other exotic vehicles powered by fuel cells, compressed air, or batteries. ... [This] will mean that about six years from now many Vermonters registering a new car will have to pay more — probably a lot more — for an exotic upscale hybrid, or cram themselves into a smaller and less crashworthy car, van or truck. In Detroit, Failure's a Done Deal. Congress could help the Detroit Three by allowing them, when meeting CAFE (corporate average fuel economy) standards imposed by Congress, to count fuel-efficient cars they import from their overseas factories. Congressional Democrats oppose that because those imports are not made by members of the United Auto Workers. Those Democrats, their rhetoric notwithstanding, really care most about the union. "Saving the planet" comes second and last comes the health of the auto companies. The 65 mpg Ford the U.S. Can't Have. If ever there was a car made for the times, this would seem to be it: a sporty subcompact that seats five, offers a navigation system, and gets a whopping 65 miles to the gallon. … The company will sell the little fuel sipper only in Europe. "We know it's an awesome vehicle," says Ford America President Mark Fields. "But there are business reasons why we can't sell it in the U.S." The main one: The Fiesta ECOnetic runs on diesel. New fuel economy standard will be 31.6 mpg. The next generation of new cars and trucks will need to meet a fleet average of 31.6 miles per gallon by 2015, the Bush administration proposed Tuesday, seeking more fuel-efficient vehicles in the face of high gasoline prices and concerns over global warming. Research and Commentary on Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) Standards. Synopsis: CAFE kills people and doesn't help the environment. Democide: [Scroll down] We can add the CAFE standards, federal regulations dictating mileage rates for new cars. The only method of achieving the drastic new rates was by cutting automobile size and weight, increasing impact dangers to drivers and passengers. Studies by Harvard University and the Brookings Institution suggest that the numbers of ensuing deaths may exceed 120,000. Haven't CAFE Regulations Killed Enough People? For over a decade, the Competitive Enterprise Institute has argued that CAFE increases traffic deaths by restricting the production of larger, more crashworthy cars. This past August the National Academy of Sciences agreed; it issued a study on the program that concluded that CAFE contributes to between 1,300 and 2,600 traffic deaths per year. Given that CAFE has been in effect for more than two decades, its likely death toll is ten thousand or more. The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007... A Lightbulb Tea Party? First, the law requires auto fuel efficiency standards to increase by 40 percent by 2020. Unfortunately, this goal is presently only achievable by reducing vehicle weight — but lighter cars are deadlier cars. So what's the purported benefit of mandating 4,000 or more deaths per year? The law's supporters claim that it may reduce national oil consumption by about 5 percent (400 million barrels of oil per year). Doing the math, your life is now worth about 100,000 barrels of oil. Leave Those Car Buyers Alone. Last week, environmentalists and the auto industry struck a deal to require new cars sold 13 years hence to average 35 miles per gallon; a 40-percent increase over the existing 27.5 mpg mandate. … As the president prepares to sign the energy bill passed yesterday [12/18/2007] by the House, Congress's 32-year-old fight over automotive fuel-economy standards is probably over … for now. CAFE Rule Will Add $900 to $10,000 to Cost of Car. The new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards — set by Congress and signed into law by President Bush in the new energy bill — will require vehicles to get 35 miles per gallon by the year 2020 and will add somewhere between $900 and $10,000 to the cost of buying a car, dependent upon which expert is consulted. That cost, high or low, will boost the average price of a new car, which will be passed onto consumers, according to carmakers and independent analysts. Coping With The New CAFE Standards. Spies in Washington, DC tell us the congressional parking lot is filled with large sedans, SUV's, and trucks. While there are a few economy cars in the lot, the estimated mileage for the cars in the lot is less than 20 mpg. But don't expect to see Ted Kennedy in a Smart Car because we know that politicians reek with hypocrisy. They exempt themselves from the very laws they expect us to follow. So, rest assured that the Congress Critters will not be driving the micro-cars that they will require you to drive. This is supposed to be the 'Land of the Free' so why should Americans be denied the opportunity to choose the vehicle that meets their needs? The Tax They Didn't Tell You About: The CAFE standards embedded in the Energy Independence Act require fuel efficiency to jump to a fleet average 35 miles a gallon in 2020 from about 25 mpg now. That means you will soon be paying more — a lot more — to buy a car. … Based on what we know now, it'll cost automakers some $85 billion to comply. When all costs are factored in, other estimates put the total cost at about $18 billion a year. Fine, say the populist politicians. Stick it to the automakers. But do they really think Ford and GM will pick up the tab? Of course not. Congress Conjures Up an Energy Deficit. When Congress passed a so-called energy bill in mid-December that demanded more "fuel efficiency" by a measure of forty percent, requiring that automobiles be built to get 35 miles per gallon in 2020 as opposed to the former mandate of 25 mpg, it was essentially telling American auto makers to start making cars out of paper mache or something so lightweight that the driver and passengers will have to be extracted from a crash with a sponge. Why Only the Grinch Would Love Higher CAFE Standards: With cars in most showrooms showing greater savings in fuel, consumers will buy more cars or put more miles on the cars they buy. Fuel consumption goes up, not down, at least for part of the fleet. The resulting rebound takes some of the edge off economy gains that might otherwise come with tighter CAFE standards. The Ninth Circus strikes again. Court tosses new fuel standards for SUVs, trucks, cites threat of global warming. The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals today [11/15/2007] tossed new federal fuel economy standards for some sport utility vehicles, minivans and light trucks, arguing that regulators failed to properly assess the risk of global warming and that the new rules didn't include larger SUVs and trucks. The decision is a huge win for several environmental groups and 11 states that argued that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's new fuel economy standards, announced in March 2006, ignored the effects of carbon dioxide emissions. Is the 'Smart Car' really Smart? Remember the station wagon? Previous CAFE standards led to the end of the station wagon and the birth of the popular SUV. Station wagons were categorized as cars and because they were bigger, heavier and required larger engines it was impossible to meet the CAFE standards for the manufacturer's passenger car fleet. But the public weren't interested in a micro-car, they wanted a vehicle that could carry the family. Controversy Surrounds NAS Selection of CAFE Panelists. The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) ... was criticized for packing its 2002 panel with members with financial incentives or a philosophical predisposition for developing new engine technologies. Even so, the 2002 report confirmed existing fuel economy mandates have caused between 1,300 and 2,600 additional traffic deaths each and every year since 1973. The 2002 report also confirmed that for every 100-pound reduction in vehicle weight (the principal means by which fuel economy mandates are met), an extra 250 people die in traffic accidents each year. CAFE Battle Rages on Capitol Hill. The battle over more stringent fuel economy restrictions is being fought in the House, as the Senate has already approved legislation requiring new cars and light trucks to average at least 35 miles per gallon by 2020. The Senate legislation represents a 30 percent increase in car fuel economy and a 50 percent increase in light truck fuel economy relative to current requirements. Hybrid Cars' Fantasy Mileage Ratings Drive Into the Sunset. Hybrid car economics will face a new road test this month with the arrival of fresh models sporting revised mileage ratings from the Environmental Protection Agency. This year, new test standards have forced manufacturers to lower advertised efficiency claims on most models compared to previous years, and car lots are bracing for a tougher environment for hybrid sales. Note: More information about hybrid cars can be found here. Beware of Anti-Consumer Energy Bills On Tap in Congress. In order to meet tougher Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, cars and trucks would need to be made lighter, which also makes them less safe in collisions. According to a 2002 National Academy of Sciences study, vehicle downsizing has cost 1,300 to 2,600 lives per year in the U.S. Tougher miles per gallon requirements would likely add to the death toll, especially if they are ambitious and inflexible. Harry Reid's gas rants: ignorance or arrogance? That Harry Reid is a hypocrite about fuel economy and a variety of other topics isn't a surprise. … Reid uses a Suburban because he "has to" for security purposes. Why? Becuase you sit higher, are safer, or gasp, have more room for all your stuff (ego excepted)? Heaven forbid a family choose that vehicle for the same purposes. Pay Less, Drive More. Last Wednesday the Bush administration announced new fuel economy standards for light trucks and SUVs. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta asserted that the new regulations, which will affect vehicles sold from 2008 to 2011, will save 10.7 billion gallons of fuel during those years by mandating greater vehicle efficiency. But this projection ignores the fact that improved efficiency tends to lead to greater consumer use, whether in motor vehicle driving or desktop computing. Green but Unsafe. In 1974, Congress mandated a doubling in car fuel efficiency to 28 miles per gallon from 14; the rules duly led to a cut of fuel consumption. However, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences estimated that they also resulted each year in 2,000 additional traffic deaths and 30,000 nonfatal injuries. President Bush Should Reconsider his Call to Increase Fuel Economy Standards. "CAFE standards kill," said Amy Ridenour, president of the National Center for Public Policy Research. "In our view, the best way to 'reform and modernize' fuel economy standards is to eliminate them. It is hypocritical, and to some, lethal, for a government that forbids drilling in ANWR to, in the name of energy independence, force families into vehicles that are less safe than they otherwise would be." Safe at Any Speed. It's another summer weekend, when millions of families pack up the minivan or SUV and hit the road. So this is also an apt moment to trumpet some good, and underreported, news: Driving on the highways is safer today than ever before. [And that's because so many people drive large SUV's and pickup trucks. The highways would get even safer if drunk drivers spent more time in jail.] Why the Government's CAFE Standards for Fuel Efficiency Should Be Repealed, not Increased. In 1975, Congress reacted to the 1973 oil embargo imposed by OPEC by establishing the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) Program as part of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act. The goal of the program was to reduce U.S. dependence on imported oil and consumption of gasoline. Advocates also hoped it would improve air quality. But the evidence shows that it has failed to meet its goals; worse, it has had unintended consequences that increase the risk of injury to Americans. Planet-conscious cars not safe for drivers. Tiny cars that sip fuel might not be as good for your health as they are for the planet. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is releasing crash test results Tuesday [12/19/2006] for six minicars that find only one — the Nissan Versa — to be safe. Road Watchers. Jim Whitty, from the Oregon Department of Transportation, ... says the car industry is moving towards more fuel-efficient cars on its own, including gas-electric hybrid SUVs. So he says the environmentalists don't have to worry about people choosing the fuel-efficient option to save money, the fuel-efficient option is the only one they'll have. This was written in 1988: The Mounting Dangers of the CAFE Mileage Standards: Although CAFE was first proposed to foster more fuel efficient cars, the average fuel efficiency of cars driven in the U.S. actually began to increase even before standards were enacted. The reason was simple. With gasoline prices rising from 36 cents per gallon in 1972 to 53 cents per gallon in 1974, consumers began to demand more efficient automobiles. … No federal regulation was needed to tell auto makers to improve fuel economy the market was sending an unmistakable signal. As fuel prices began to drop in the early 1980s, however, consumers began to look for other important qualities in their cars, like size, comfort, and safety. The Editor says... For those of you who don't remember, when the price of unleaded gasoline hit 55 cents a gallon, the price of diesel was 19 cents a gallon. This made small diesel cars, like the Volkswagen Rabbit, an attractive money-saving option. But within a few years, the price of diesel was roughly equal to the price of unleaded gasoline, even though the demand for diesel powered automobiles really wasn't that great, and still isn't. Time to Fight the CAFE Leviathan. Ronald Reagan once said that a federal program, once started, is the closest thing we know to immortality. That saying is being proven true in spades with efforts in the U.S. Senate to perpetuate and strengthen corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) mandates. Anti-SUV Activists Versus the American Family: When you get behind the wheel of your SUV or minivan, do you automatically become a member of a hate group? According to the radicals now dominating the environmental movement, driving one of these vehicles proves you hate the planet. While the owners of compact and hybrid cars can smugly believe they are saving the world and saving money at the gas pump, their choice of vehicle is not for everyone. SUV-haters fail to understand the needs of the average American family and these vehicles are now more popular than traditional passenger cars. CBO Hangs a Price Tag on Tougher Fuel Economy Standards. According to Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates released on January 5, [2004,] a federally mandated increase in corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards for cars and light trucks would raise average vehicle prices $228, costing consumers an extra $2.4 billion a year and the auto industry another $1.2 billion. CAFE's Three Strikes - It Should be Out. CAFE has three strikes against it: (1) The best evidence suggests that raising CAFE standards will not reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil. (2) Even if human activity is contributing to global warming, raising CAFE standards will have little or no effect. (3) CAFE standards – both at their present level and at the proposed higher levels – pose a significant risk to life and health. The Problem with Raising CAFE: Raising CAFE is not going to reduce the U.S.'s dependence on oil. That's right, forcing auto makers to build more fuel-efficient cars is not going to reduce the overall amount of fuel Americans use. Why am I so sure? Because they already tried it, and it didn't work. Redesigning trucks in Washington: Average fuel economy of new vehicles did not jump from 19.9 mpg in 1978 to 24.6 mpg in 1981 because Big Brother could mandate what sort of vehicles we buy, but because sales of domestic cars collapsed by 40 percent from 1978 to 1981 (from 9.1 million to 5.4 million), while sales of fuel-frugal imports rose. Moralizing Environmentalist Dogma Is Immoral. Eco-activist groups oppose oil drilling virtually everywhere, and say we should just drive smaller cars. Unfortunately, reducing the size and weight of cars to help meet mileage standards costs lives: an additional 1,300 to 2,600 fatalities every year, and ten times that many injuries, than if people had been driving bigger cars, according to the National Academy of Sciences and other serious analyses. SUVs: How Safe Are They? Size and weight equals better occupant protection – it is basic physics – and a big reason for the ongoing popularity of SUVs. You (and your family) stand a much better chance of surviving a major crash in a 4,500 pound mid-size SUV than in a 2,400 pound subcompact, especially in a head-on collision. Yet, ironically, it is SUVs that are increasingly being denounced as "unsafe" – typically by the same crowd that has been trying to force the public into smaller, less crashworthy cars for the past quarter century via government-mandated fuel economy standards. The Car They Want You to Drive: When you order a pizza, it's up to you what the toppings will be. No government busybody or special interest "advocate" has yet figured out a way to deprive you of your double pepperoni — if that's what you're hankering after. Why should it be any different when it comes to cars? Death by Government. Even though air bags are responsible for scores of deaths, they pale in comparison to the carnage that has been created by corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards. To meet these standards the automobile industry has dramatically downsized its fleet, making cars narrower, shorter, and lighter. The result, according to a study by Robert Crandall published in the Journal of Law and Economics, is responsible for approximately 2,500 additional traffic fatalities each year. I Want My SUV. Activists at the federal level have dressed up their disdain for SUVs as an environmental issue and they support increases in the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards to apply to SUVs instead of an outright ban. But CAFE is what killed the family station wagon, as automakers found the easiest way to meet the government's arbitrary miles per gallon standard was to reduce the weight of vehicles. Last summer, a National Academy of Sciences report estimated CAFE's effect on vehicle size caused between 1,300 to 2,600 deaths annually. Energy disinformation: Blaming cyclical swings in energy prices on SUVs may be politically correct, but it's really quite absurd. Transportation accounts for 67 percent of petroleum use, but only 27 percent of total energy use. The other third of each barrel of petroleum goes into producing plastics, synthetic fibers, pesticides and fertilizer, fueling farm machinery, generating some electricity and heating some homes. No Apologies Needed for Driving an SUV. Americans like the environment. But the November 2002 elections demonstrated they don't particularly like the advocacy groups that claim to speak for the "environmental movement." Why? Perhaps it's the moral self-righteousness, political shrillness, and, well, sheer loopiness that is part and parcel of Green rhetoric today. The campaign to shame people out of their SUVs is a clear case in point. Hybrids' Disappointing Mileage Confounding State Laws. Hybrid cars are the flavor of the moment for environmental activists and some state legislators, particularly on the east and west coasts. California, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont have enacted low-emission vehicle programs, and several other states are considering doing so. The programs use a combination of taxpayer subsidies and outright mandates that encourage and sometimes force automakers to build, and consumers to buy, gas-electric hybrid vehicles. What Would Jesus Drive? What kind of silly question is that? It seems environmentalists have found God. Last week top auto executives in Detroit agreed to meet with leaders of a group called the National Religious Partnership for the Environment, which has launched an anti-SUV campaign dubbed "What Would Jesus Drive?" Would Jesus Take The Bus? The largely secular press corps does not usually regard Jesus Christ as a suitable authority to cite in political or policy discussions. When George W. Bush invoked Christ's name in a December 1999 debate, for instance, journalists gasped at the insertion of religion into the public square, something to make non-Christians squirm. To liberal media purists, the slightest acknowledgement of Christianity by a public official is evidence of a sinful desire to impose a Taliban-style theocracy in America. Death by Regulation: The purpose of Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards is to reduce consumption of foreign oil. Auto manufacturers have complied with CAFE standards by building lighter vehicles. It doesn't take a physicist to know lighter vehicles offer less protection to occupants in collisions than heavier vehicles, thereby yielding more traffic fatalities. Have you driven a Freedom CAR lately? After approximately one billion dollars of government funding, there is no car, no hope of one and only continued bureaucratic double talk. The program was good for the politicians, especially for the titular head of the program, Vice President Al Gore. Gore and his buddies could proudly point to how much they were doing to make the world a better place. … Taxpayers are the one group that is clearly worse off. The spin on SUVs and doomsday: Critics have said SUVs are unfairly safe because, being big and heavy, they protect passengers in crashes with the sort of smaller vehicles that environmentalists want to shoehorn Americans into. 4x4s to be priced off the road. Gas-guzzling sports cars, 4x4s and people carriers could be priced off the road within five years after a crackdown on carbon emissions to be announced by the European Commission this month. … The rule change could add more than £3,300 to the cost of a vehicle. "As to the "WWJD?" clerics' question, Jesus reportedly arrived in Jerusalem on a fuel-guzzling and high-pollution conveyance, a donkey. For millennia, before automobiles arrived to offend liberals, quadrupeds ruled the streets. A century ago in fragrant New York City, the healthiest of the 150,000 horses each put up to 25 pounds of manure each day onto the streets, to the delight of swarms of flies, or in stables — most blocks had one — filled with urine-soaked hay. In dry weather, traffic pounded manure to dust that penetrated noses and houses. Then automobiles, and especially SUVs, spoiled paradise." Demonizing SUVs: The anti-choice crowd is after your car. No, it's not the religious right-wing; it's the religious left-wing. The National Religious Partnership for the Environment is mounting a national campaign to demonize SUVs, to make you feel guilty, even sinful, for choosing to drive a car that makes you feel safe. Senate rejects tighter CAFE as new data link program to thousands of deaths. Efforts to toughen a federal program initiated in response to the 1973 Arab oil embargo were rejected by the U.S. Senate on March 12, when Senators from both parties opted only to require that the Department of Transportation develop new standards within two years. Nothing Good in This Old CAFE: Government rules requiring higher gasoline mileage for cars and light trucks have the superficial appearance of a good deal. Who wouldn't want better fuel economy? What the political sponsors of government-mandated mileage improvements fail to tell the public is that these regulations have harmful consequences. They restrict the choice of vehicles their constituents may buy. And they do even more serious harm by degrading vehicle safety and undermining the national economy. Congress ducks out of the CAFE: For a libertarian, what could be less principled than forcing new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards onto automakers and auto consumers? For a liberal, what could be less principled than an energy policy without strict new CAFE standards? Leave it to Congress to find a compromise that fails everyone's principles, putting CAFE standards into unaccountable bureaucratic hands while at the same time fending off legislative consideration of stiffer standards. Raising Federal CAFE Standards: A Misguided and Costly Mandate: As the U.S. Senate prepares to debate energy legislation, lawmakers are wrangling over reducing America's dependence on foreign oil. Some of the more astute are advocating increased domestic production, including limited exploration in a tiny sliver of land in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) — an area specifically set aside by Congress for that purpose. Others, led by Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Fritz Hollings (D-SC) have proposed raising the federal Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standard, a mandate determining the minimum average miles per gallon (mpg) for vehicles sold in this country. Federal Government Should Not Mandate Higher Gas Mileage for SUVs: A federal law known as CAFE (corporate average fuel economy) has been proven to kill people by forcing the downsizing of automobiles. Should the Government Choose What Kind of Car You Should Drive? As a simple matter of personal freedom and consumer choice, it should not be up to the government to determine how many miles my car can travel on a gallon of gasoline. The American Dream: Why Environmentalists Attack the SUV: The real casualty of the environmentalists' war against the SUV is freedom. Environmentalists Attack the SUV Because it is the Symbol of the American Dream. Conservative Group Says Fuel Economy Standards Should be Scrapped: The Competitive Enterprise Institute, a conservative public policy group, says that corporate average fuel economy standards actually kill people each year. The government-implemented regulations, put in place during the 1980s, required American automakers to make more fuel-efficient cars, and in many cases, that translates into smaller, dangerous cars, said Sam Kazman, the CEI's general counsel. Amtraking Automakers: Smaller cars may receive Al Gore's seal of approval, but plenty of tests demonstrate that smaller cars are less safe. Even if every last man, woman and teenager in America drove small cars, it wouldn't make the roads safer. Two small cars plowing into one another are tantamount to sure death. Most Americans aren't willing to risk their lives — or their families — for a dubious environmental trade-off. See the USA in your SUV. The real casualty of the environmentalists' war against the SUV is freedom. Back to the top of this page Back to the Environmental issues page Jump to Environmentalists Oppose Every Practical Source of Energy Jump to The Causes and Effects of High Oil Prices Jump to The Causes and Effects of High Gas Prices Back to the Home page 
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Document location http://www.akdart.com/cafe.html Updated November 19, 2009. Page design by Andrew K. Dart ©2009 |