Bush To Call For Improved Fuel Economy? Some See Obfuscation In Possible Fleet Rule Change - NYT

[hatrack]

WASHINGTON, Jan. 21 — There is widespread anticipation, inside government and outside, that President Bush will call for better fuel economy in his State of the Union address on Tuesday. The White House has posed questions to the Transportation Department about various options. One idea under consideration, government officials and car company executives who have consulted with the White House say, is to do away with the existing system of fleet averages, as has already happened with light trucks, and set a standard for each vehicle, based on its “footprint,” or distance between the wheels. The president asked for the authority to do that last year, but Congressional Democrats rejected his request, saying the White House should use its existing power to simply raise the average. A standstill has resulted.

The federal official in charge of gasoline mileage rules, Nicole R. Nason, has been telling members of Congress that when the current rules for car mileage were set, in 1975, she was 5 years old. Ms. Nason, administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, says she hopes that when her 5-year-old daughter starts driving, the standard will be higher. But that hope has not been enough to budge either side. Raising the number from the current 27.5 miles per gallon would cause hundreds more highway deaths each year because automakers would meet the goal by moving to smaller cars, the administration argues. It also says that the system puts an undue burden on companies that specialize in large cars — that is to say, American automakers.

A problem for the Democrats is that, once there is no fleet average, the debate gets murkier because there is no single number to argue over. Simply reforming the system without setting specific goals is “a license for obfuscation,” said Clarence M. Ditlow, director of the Center for Auto Safety, which monitors the auto industry and government safety regulators.

Critics are pushing hard. Representative Edward J. Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat who wants to increase fuel economy, said: “Our problem in dealing with the Bush administration is that when they want to send troops to fight for oil, they do that whether they have the authority or not. When you ask them to reduce the need for oil, suddenly they’re concerned about authority.” Higher-mileage cars can be just as safe as gas-guzzlers, Mr. Markey said, and to argue otherwise would mean “that the Ford Escape hybrid is less safe than the regular Ford Escape.” He plans to reintroduce a bill that would push the standard up by one mile per gallon per year for the first 10 years, and 4 percent per year thereafter.

EDIT

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/22/washington/22fuel.html

[Parche]

1. fuel

Kind of a little too late Georgie???

[applegrove]

2. Wow. For once * is trying to make it look like he is actually governing.

Will not work. His history is too long.

[tinrobot]

3. Smaller cars mean more deaths?

Raising the number from the current 27.5 miles per gallon would cause hundreds more highway deaths each year because automakers would meet the goal by moving to smaller cars, the administration argues.

Sheesh.. if all the cars were smaller, everything would balance out again.

Besides, what about all the deaths from pollution due to the big cars?

[Nihil]

4. Yeah, that made me re-read the sentence too!

You could always do something radical like prosecuting the tank-drivers
for *causing* the deaths of the small-car occupants ... but that might
imply that people take responsibility for their own actions and you can't
do that ...

:think: