A Federal Fuel Fight
Amid the furor in Washington over high gasoline prices, President Bush took up the call for an increase in auto fuel economy standards. But there may be less to the pitch than meets the eye.
No plan is on deck to increase the 27.5-mpg standard set 31 years ago in the corporate average fuel economy program, known as CAFE. Instead, the Department of Transportation is asking Congress to give it the green light to set different efficiency standards for cars of different sizes. That may mean improvements for some vehicles. But enviros don't like the idea because the bar would be set lower for bigger sedans.
Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta argues that the current one-size-fits-all program encourages automakers to build smaller, less safe vehicles. However, the financially troubled U.S. automakers aren't exactly cheering the administration forward on making any changes in the program they've learned to live with for three decades. The government "should very carefully weigh the timing of any increases in passenger car standards in view of the current economic health of the industry, " says Frederick Webber of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers.
Other political considerations are at work. On the one hand, the GOP leadership wants to beat back efforts by Democrats and some moderate Republicans who believe Congress should simply set a new higher standard. On the other hand, some Republicans argue that CAFE does not work at all as an energy conservation program because Americans have increased their driving even as cars have become more efficient. The United Auto Workers, for its part, fiercely opposes any change in the CAFE provisions that give automakers a break for domestic production, thus protecting the jobs of workers in U.S. assembly plants.
While the infighting continues in the United States, other countries have moved forward to make their auto fleets more efficient. Most notably, China recently put standards in place to shape the efficiency of its rapidly growing auto market, with requirements as high as 38 mpg. As of today, no American carmaker puts out even a single vehicle with that kind of mileage.
This story appears in the May 15, 2006 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.