Hudson's Blog

May 21, 2009 - Why We Should Not Fear 39mpg CAFE

Senators and Representatives debating the benefits and, more importantly, the pitfalls of requiring cars and trucks to get better gas mileage may be in the news, but these same elected officials along with television talking heads seem to forget that this happened 35 years ago.

Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFÉ) regulations came about in the 1970s as a response to the combination of skyrocketing fuel prices and gas guzzling vehicles. The answer to the problem was to require manufacturers to make more fuel-efficient vehicles. Sounded good at the time…simply force them to increase the fuel economy from 12 mpg to 27.5 mpg in just over a decade.

Arguments against this new requirement included a reduction in weight of vehicles and, by extension, a reduction in safety of said vehicles. Cars would transition from 2 ½-ton compact cars spewing toxic waste to 1-ton subcompact rolling deathtraps by 1985. And prices would shoot through the atmosphere. Well, that’s how it looked from 1975.

When the 27.5 mpg level was finally reached, just a few years late, cars were smaller. Against all odds, cars and trucks remained affordable and got SAFER! How did that happen?

It came down to engineers doing what they do best…engineering. They solved problems and made better vehicles at the same time.

Another two decades pass and the decision is made to increase CAFÉ regulations for the first time in well over 30 years, but a (mostly) new generation of elected officials return to the same well for the same tired arguments against this progression.

Oh, cars will get smaller. Oh, cars won’t be as safe. Oh, the government is dictating choice.

Let’s start off by saying that I am NOT for CAFÉ. GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz once stated that “forcing automakers to sell smaller cars to improve fuel economy” was akin to “fighting the nation's obesity problem by forcing clothing manufacturers to sell garments in only small sizes" (reiterated in a recent David Letterman interview). And that’s how I feel. But I also feel that engineers can overcome many obstacles to create fuel efficient vehicles that get nearly 40 mpg. Whether it’s with turbodiesel engines or hybrid powertrains, it’s possible. Additionally, we NEED to transition from the current petroleum economy to something else. ANYTHING else.

The way to get the public out of gas-guzzling vehicles and into more practical models is to raise the price of fuel. Europe and Japan know about this because their gas prices have been double, triple, and quadruple that of US gas prices for ages. They drive four-cylinder cars that regularly return 30 and 40 mpg…and diesel engines are very reasonable alternatives to gasoline engines in almost every size vehicle. In the US, a gallon of gas costs far less than a gallon of milk and a fraction of what Americans typically pay for bottled water!

Since no politician wanting another term on the elected-official gravy train would introduce any bill recommending raising gas taxes by two or three dollars a gallon, we’re stuck with artificially low gas prices and consumers wasting untold barrels of oil on the freedom to drive 400hp SUVs to the corner donut shop for a cappuccino. Which brings us back to the CAFÉ regulations and putting the pressure on manufacturers to build something other than what the public wants to buy.

But the arguments against CAFÉ are borrowed from politicians and pundits of 35 years ago, which make politicians and pundits of today look stupid.

9:57 pm | Categories: fuel economy, cafe, government, regulations Permalink | Alert Administrator

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