White House looks to change fuel economy standards

With negative public reaction to high gasoline prices, the White House announced it is taking the first steps to change passenger car fuel economy standards, the first such change in over 20 years.

The administration said it will first make changes in the standards for cars and light trucks, raising the fuel-savings requirements by some 10 per cent over the 2008-2011 model years. Since the mid-1980s, cars have had an average fuel-savings requirement of 27.5 mpg. Light trucks are expected to average about 24 mpg by 2011. The standard for light trucks for 2006 is 21.6 mpg.

But not everyone is pleased with the announcement. The Washington, D.C.-based Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) called President Bush’s initiative a “political ploy” that was largely irrelevant in the long-run.

“Given the current run-up in gas prices, consumers are moving far more effectively than that government to increase the fuel economy of new cars,” said Sam Kazman, CEI’s general counsel in a statement released to the press. “They’re switching to different, higher miles-per-gallon models and changing their driving habits — changes that are having the immediate effect of driving up fuel economy and restraining gasoline prices.”