Revamping CAFE

[cybele]

There's an interesting article in today's Grist Magazine online.

Muckracker: Sticker Shocking

The EPA has been misoverestimating the fuel economy of cars sold in the U.S., says enviro group
by Amanda Griscom

Official U.S. EPA statistics ascribe a pathetic average of 20.8 miles per gallon to the 2003 car fleet, about 6 percent lower than 15 years ago. The fleet averaged 22.1 mpg in 1987, before Americans got hooked on gas-guzzling SUVs.

But according to the enviro group Bluewater Network, the actual fuel economy of America's cars and light trucks is as much as 20 percent lower than the EPA claims.

You can read the whole article on their site at the above link (no registration required). They also mention that there is a public comment period with the EPA about the issue and you can submit a comment to them online - Docket ID OAR-2003-0214 - Petition to Amend Fuel Economy Testing and Calculation Procedures: Request for Comments

It is terribly disappointing to see that overall fuel efficiency has been going down, though emissions are also going down because more cars are compliant with tougher standards than 15 years ago. Part of me feels like it's not my place if you wanna buy 4 times as much fuel for your transportation than I do ... I just don't want you to pollute because it's my air too.

[Bob Allen]

I think it does make a difference if the guy next to me wants to consume four times as much gas as I do. I don't care about how much money he is spending, but gasoline is a finite resource, like food in a lifeboat. If you were in a lifeboat and the guy next to you decided he needed to eat four times the average rations, wouldn't you get upset? This is precisely why most of the world resents us: we consume way more per capita than any other country on the planet and most of us act as if it were our birthright to do so.
I don't know what one can properly do about it without being smug and self righteous. Seems like part of the American psyche of individualism, and George Bush's modus operandi, that we feel we can do pretty much what we want and screw the common good.
Bob

[Jerry P]

There is no doubt that the EPA needs to revise it's testing procedures. Like most things governmental, it doesn't reflect the real world. However, I would expect the Big 3 to howl about this, since it could make them look worse than they do now. Only car we've had that actually met, and often exceeded, the EPA estimates was our 2001 Echo, a car that my son now drives and will forever hold a place in my heart as one of the BEST cars I ever owned.

As far as rage over the excessive use of finite resources by SUV owners, I have some but know there isn't a damned thing I can do about their attitude, so I just supress it. It is interesting to see them crying on the local news being interviewed at a gas station pumping $50 of gas into their vehicle and moaning that the government has to do something . I would like to say to them 'you made a choice, maybe a bad choice. Live with it or make a change. Don't ask the government to bail you out.' Most of these folks are the same ones who scream when the government helps out a poor person, or one who is unable to fend for themselves for some reason - 'welfare trash' they say.
I am very proud to drive my Prius. I hope it says to the world that I care, that I am responsible for my own actions, that I don't want to use more than my share of the world's resources. Prius is a fantastic car, but an even better statement of personal commitment.

[Bob Allen]

Originally posted by Jerry P
There is no doubt that the EPA needs to revise it's testing procedures.  Like most things governmental, it doesn't reflect the real world.  However, I would expect the Big 3 to howl about this, since it could make them look worse than they do now.  Only car we've had that actually met, and often exceeded, the EPA estimates was our 2001 Echo, a car that my son now drives and will forever hold a place in my heart as one of the BEST cars I ever owned.

As far as rage over the excessive use of finite resources by SUV owners, I have some but know there isn't a damned thing I can do about their attitude, so I just supress it.  It is interesting to see them crying on the local news being interviewed at a gas station pumping $50 of gas into their vehicle and moaning that the government has to do something .  I would like to say to them 'you made a choice, maybe a bad choice. Live with it or make a change. Don't ask the government to bail you out.'   Most of these folks are the same ones who scream when the government helps out a poor person, or one who is unable to fend for themselves for some reason - 'welfare trash' they say.  
  I am very proud to drive my Prius.  I hope it says to the world that I care, that I am responsible for my own actions, that I don't want to use more than my share of the world's resources.  Prius is a fantastic car, but an even better statement of personal commitment.

Well said

[DaveinOlyWA]

Bob:

excellent post. you hit it right on the nose that it is no longer a question of cost any more. it is simply waste that can not be recovered.

Even if we ignored the 10 million tons of particulates and greenhouse gasses we pump into the air we breathe EVERY SINGLE DAY, sooner or later fossil fuels will not be available at any price. and at the rate we are going, it is going to be sooner.

its sad to think that my son who will turn 8 in a few months will most likely live to see that day happen.

most people are slow to realize that our comsumption of oil has increased exponentially in only the last 30 years. what will it be 30 years from now? what if some of the current near 3rd world countries wants to join the human race? what would our oil comsumption be if China and India used oil at just 50 % of the rate at which we use it?

its a foregone conclusion that if China is serious about becoming a prosperous nation, they must industrialize and to do so will take a lot of oil. The dam they are building may be the largest in the world, but it wont even provide 5 % of the power needs for the region it is in.

unfortunately, our energy policy is run by a group of old short-sighted, self-centered, money-grubbing people who already know they wont live long enough to see any real shortages and their effects.