American new fuel economy standards offer concessions to auto-makers in the fine print |
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Wed, 24 Aug 2005 12:05
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As oil prices soar, in yet another gimmick the Bush administration has chosen to apparently face up to the looming situation ahead by pursuing better fuel economies through minor adjustments in its standards. The new standards announced yesterday have been under consideration for many years but are insignificant given America’s insatiable demand for oil and seek to appease automobile manufacturers and oil companies while putting up a brave face before the public.
Americans, who pay close to $3 for a gallon of gasoline are not being asked to curtail their automobile needs, nor are technologies such as the electric car being pursued. Yet America is going back to the 70’s method of enforcing fuel economy standards, in an effort to repeat a cut in oil demand similar to what it did in the 70s. Many Americans already feel the pinch in the cost of commuting and hopefully this pinch would lead to people seeking ways to save precious fuel and money. But America’s emerging energy crossroad does nothing through its new policies to encourage use of the more efficient technologies than what has been commercially around since 1986 or so. In the years since then, American automobiles have only grown in engine power rather than fuel efficiency.
The new standards set forth suggest a "modest" rise in fuel economy year-on-year for light trucks by about 0.4 miles per gallon per year to 23.5 miles per gallon by 2010 as from the 22.2mpg slated to be achieved by 2007. The category of light trucks, which includes pickups, vans and SUVs have been broken into six "classes" according to size and corresponding fuel economy standards. The range allows a difference of nearly 7 mpg between the largest and smallest light trucks, allowing manufacturers the choice of meeting either the average criteria or the individual standards based on size. The only ray of hope is that starting from 2011 manufacturers would not have the current option of bypassing class-wise standards through averages. The Congress-set standard of 27.5 mpg for passenger cars will still hold, however the one escapes the dragnet of the new fuel economy measures is the heaviest American SUVs like the Hummer H2 from GM.
Also while the standards by no means appear to be leading to an immediate drop in gasoline consumption, if the class-based criteria are adhered to by all between 2008 and 2011 America could save upto 10 billion gallons of fuel for all four years. However, the administration’s recent energy bill actually tries to compensate manufacturers of gasoline guzzling cars, who are expected to bear a $6.2 billion tab to effect these standards, by offering them an extension of the alternative fuel credits (a concession of nearly 1 mpg of the fuel economy standards) until 2014. Moreover, since the 70’s when similar standards were enforced, Americans have favored the minivans and SUVs in the light truck category, contributing to a near three-fold rise of the category from the 20 per cent share of US vehicle sales they held then.
Norman Y. Mineta, Transportation Secretary, while outlining the new standards said, "The plan is good news for the American consumer because it will ensure vehicles get more miles to the gallon and will save them money". But for America which currently burns a yearly 140 billion gallons of gasoline what is a 10 billion gallons saving that too over four years from 2008. Clearly the personal passenger transport dependency for 40 percent of the country’s oil is not going to change. A spokesman of the environmental group Sierra Club said, "At a time when Americans are paying record prices for gas, the Bush administration has sided with its cronies in the auto industry and rejected real solutions" while Senator John Kerry said it was "another lost opportunity to help our security, economy and environment".
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