Car Fan
Registered Member
Mark, I'd hate to think that we are talking past each other. I've not suggested that the U.S adopt a European style tax hike on gasoline. Quite the contrary I've been clear that I think we should be able to drill more domestically and buy all we want.
What I have said is that I don't agree with CAFE. I believe that it distorts the market and interferes with consumer choice in particular by limiting access to larger engines and higher performance vehicles (which tend to get lower fuel efficiency scores.) And even with the new trading credits and other mods, the program is so byzantine and unduly controlling that it would make a Russian czar green with envy.
With regard to the difference between Europe and the U.S. I mentioned a fact -- they're Fuel Economy standards are voluntary, ours are not. In fact since 1975 Domestic manufacturers can be held criminally liable in addition to paying civil penalties for failure to attain CAFE targets. Please feel free to check out the Energy and Policy Conservation Act of 1975 to see the facts for yourself.
Additionally there have been considerable actual consequences to the existence of CAFE both past and I predict in the future. Until the Reagan Administration put a freeze on the CAFE level to 27.5 American consumers were faced with some of the least attractive options in the history of the American automobile. That freeze has effectively come to an end with passage of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 and the new CAFE standards announced. The actual fee increased from $5.50 to $5.50 per tenth of a mile. And on July 29, 2011 President Obama announced an historic agreement increasing fuel economy to 54.5 miles per gallon for cars and light-duty trucks by Model Year 2025.
Finally numerous analysts have acknowledged the significant trade-offs in consumer choice that are associated with CAFE. I won't even begin the discussion of the increased number of deaths associated with the push to smaller autos. But I commend to your attention a publication put out by the national academy of sciences "Effectiveness and Impact of CAFE Standards" in which they acknowledged as a finding that "the diversion of car-makers' efforts to improve fuel economy deprived new-car buyers of some amenities they clearly value, such as faster acceleration, greater carrying or towing capacity, and reliability.
So my statement from the beginning was simply I not only do not endorse CAFE, I oppose it. I do not suggest that we replace it with a European style scheme -- I suggest that we discard it. As for economic growth, the NAS study also suggested that there were significant economic costs associated with CAFE and notably with 9% unemployment and stagnant growth perhaps repeal of CAFE and a drill baby drill policy would be one of several viable options to get the economy going.
What I have said is that I don't agree with CAFE. I believe that it distorts the market and interferes with consumer choice in particular by limiting access to larger engines and higher performance vehicles (which tend to get lower fuel efficiency scores.) And even with the new trading credits and other mods, the program is so byzantine and unduly controlling that it would make a Russian czar green with envy.
With regard to the difference between Europe and the U.S. I mentioned a fact -- they're Fuel Economy standards are voluntary, ours are not. In fact since 1975 Domestic manufacturers can be held criminally liable in addition to paying civil penalties for failure to attain CAFE targets. Please feel free to check out the Energy and Policy Conservation Act of 1975 to see the facts for yourself.
Additionally there have been considerable actual consequences to the existence of CAFE both past and I predict in the future. Until the Reagan Administration put a freeze on the CAFE level to 27.5 American consumers were faced with some of the least attractive options in the history of the American automobile. That freeze has effectively come to an end with passage of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 and the new CAFE standards announced. The actual fee increased from $5.50 to $5.50 per tenth of a mile. And on July 29, 2011 President Obama announced an historic agreement increasing fuel economy to 54.5 miles per gallon for cars and light-duty trucks by Model Year 2025.
Finally numerous analysts have acknowledged the significant trade-offs in consumer choice that are associated with CAFE. I won't even begin the discussion of the increased number of deaths associated with the push to smaller autos. But I commend to your attention a publication put out by the national academy of sciences "Effectiveness and Impact of CAFE Standards" in which they acknowledged as a finding that "the diversion of car-makers' efforts to improve fuel economy deprived new-car buyers of some amenities they clearly value, such as faster acceleration, greater carrying or towing capacity, and reliability.
So my statement from the beginning was simply I not only do not endorse CAFE, I oppose it. I do not suggest that we replace it with a European style scheme -- I suggest that we discard it. As for economic growth, the NAS study also suggested that there were significant economic costs associated with CAFE and notably with 9% unemployment and stagnant growth perhaps repeal of CAFE and a drill baby drill policy would be one of several viable options to get the economy going.
