White House Briefing Puts 2025 CAFE Goal in 47-62 MPG Range
By John O'Dell October 1, 2010
Minutes after we posted a piece suggesting the Obama administration was looking for a new fleetwide fuel economy average of as much as 60 miles per gallon by 2025, word filtered down that the maximum being sought is slightly higher - at 62 mpg.
The Natural Resources Defense Council has issued a statement, based on a briefing conducted by administration personnel this morning, that says the EPA and Transportation Department will be proposing a range of emissions improvements that would require CAFE - corporate average fuel economy - to be set at between 47 mpg and 62 mpg for 2025.
That range will be the subject of intense debate for the next six months or so and the agencies will use public comment solicited during the period to formulate a proposed final rule around the middle of next year, with implementation scheduled to begin in 2012.
The present CAFE standard calls for a fleet fuel economy average of 35.5 mpg by 2016.
Environmental groups have been lobbying hard for a big increase in CAFE - to at least 60 mpg and - are expected to enthusiastically back the higher mark suggested in today's briefing.
"The Obama administration is on the right path in recognizing the need to use the Clean Air Act to improve emission efficiency standards, but it should pursue the best option possible," said Roland Hwang, the NRDC's transportation program director.
"The problem with setting the bar at just a 3 percent improvement per year is that it puts the U.S. auto industry on a path towards mediocrity. A 6 percent improvement, which translates into a 62 miles-per-gallon fuel efficiency standard, will really encourage innovative ideas, create more jobs, and do more to put the country's auto industry back in a leadership role. But beyond the jobs and economic benefits, a stronger standard will help break our crippling dependence on oil."
The group estimates that a 62 mpg CAFE standard - which equates to a little over 43 mpg on the EPA "window sticker" fuel economy rating (it's calculated under different methodology) - would reduce U.S. oil consumption by 45 billion gallons a year and would reduce CO2 emissions by 450 million metric tons.
The auto industry, which has backed the idea of a single national standard for fuel economy rules and endorsed the present CAFE standards, is expected to argue for a 2025 rule that sets the bar lower than 62 mpg.
John O'Dell, Senior Editor
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People complaint that the "gun lobby" or the "auto indurtsy lobby" are too influential in Washington. What about the "environmental lobby"? This move will not only hurt the auto industry, but hurt the average consumer too when auto manufacturers pass on their increased costs to consumers.
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