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Higher fuel efficiency rules might be on the horizon
© St. Petersburg Times, WASHINGTON -- When I bought my first gas-guzzling sport utility vehicle in 1994, I assumed Congress would soon make these huge vehicles obsolete by imposing stricter fuel standards. Seven years later, however, I'm considering buying another, even bigger SUV. Like most serial SUV-buyers, I am comforted by the knowledge that federal fuel efficiency standards have not been tightened in the past six years. Furthermore, I know the Bush administration has often portrayed energy conservation as a low priority. But just as I was beginning to compare the new models, I realized I might have misjudged the political situation. I was surprised to learn that when the Republican-controlled House passed its annual transportation bill recently, it did not -- for the first time since 1995 -- ban the administration from raising the so-called Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards. Environmental groups say the chances that Congress and the president will support an increase in CAFE standards this year are better than they have been in a long time. When I asked a spokesman for the automakers' lobby whether he thought the standard is likely to be raised, he refused to answer -- leading me to believe that the environmentalists are not being unduly optimistic. Charles Territo of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers Association says carmakers are strongly opposed to an increase in CAFE standards, even though his group did not strongly oppose dropping the ban against it from the transportation bill. Territo notes that while the auto industry has been voluntarily producing more fuel efficient cars, consumers are showing a preference for gas-guzzlers. Instead of imposing higher fuel efficiency standards, he said, the government should provide tax incentives to consumers to buy the more environmentally friendly vehicles. Under CAFE standard, passenger cars must average 27.5 miles per gallon and light trucks (including SUVs) must get 20.7 miles per gallon. The light truck standard was last raised by a small amount in 1994, and the standard for cars has been in place since 1989. Why, after a six-year moratorium, is there suddenly more support for higher CAFE standards? I don't know for sure, but I would guess it has something to do with recent polls showing that most Americans are upset by Bush's relaxed attitude toward energy conservation. If Democrats decide to press for higher fuel efficiency standards, as they seem prepared to do, it could be difficult for the Bush administration to oppose them. For the president to do so would add to the growing public perception of him as a strong ally of greedy oil companies -- a perception his White House advisers think is undermining his popularity. The president has taken no position on the issue. Instead, he has said he will await the recommendations of a National Academy of Sciences study into the effectiveness of the CAFE program. The study is supposed to be made public this month. One thing the study will find is that the six-year freeze on CAFE standards has encouraged drivers to buy SUVs. Like me, many drivers figure they will continue buying the big vehicles until they are forced to stop. If these vehicles were really all that bad for the environment, we SUV owners reason, they wouldn't be available. And while that mindset has been allowed to spread, the fuel economy of American cars has plummeted. Even when gasoline prices were rising rapidly earlier this year, there was no stampede among SUV drivers to buy more fuel efficient cars. And now that prices have leveled off, there is even less incentive for conservation. In a political vacuum, the Bush administration would no doubt oppose higher CAFE standards. After all, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham is a former senator from the car-manufacturing center of the universe: Michigan. In the past, Abraham has argued that the CAFE standards have been responsible for 46,000 more highway deaths in lighter, more fuel efficient vehicles. But the adverse public reaction to Bush's energy and environmental programs has convinced many Republicans in Congress that they must be more supportive of conservation if they expect to be re-elected in 2002. Even House Majority Whip Tom DeLay of Texas, a longtime foe of the CAFE standards, agreed to abandon the moratorium on future increases at the urging of his fellow Republicans. As for me, I am still looking at those new SUVs.
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Times columns today Howard Troxler Lucy Morgan Jan Glidewell Darrell Fry Sara Fritz |
