White House wants to restore fuel standards

The Bush administration is asking Congress for broad authority to revamp the 26-year-old system that the government has used to set automobile fuel economy standards. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta, in a letter to congressional leaders circulated, gave no indication that the administration is ready to boost fuel economy, as many Democrats have requested.

Mineta cited last year's report by the National Academy of Sciences, which said that the fuel economy of the nation's automobile fleet can be significantly improved using existing technology. But he also noted that a majority of the scientists on the academy's panel said the current system -- corporate average fuel economy, or CAFE -- has led manufacturers to build smaller and lighter cars, which are responsible for more traffic deaths.
"The department, like many members of Congress, is deeply concerned by the NAS study's findings about the adverse impact the current CAFE program has had on safety," Mineta wrote. CAFE standards were set by Congress in 1975, after an oil embargo created a national energy crisis. Cars must get at least 27.5 miles per gallon, while light trucks -- pickups, minivans and sport utility vehicles -- must get 20.7 mpg.

Automakers do not have to meet the standard for every vehicle, but must meet the average for their entire fleet. Lighter vehicles that get better mileage offset sales of heavier automobiles that guzzle gas. Mineta suggested that a new standard might be based on vehicle weight -- with lower mileage requirements for heavier vehicles -- so automakers would not have to build smaller cars to meet the standard.
Congress has prevented the Transportation Department from raising the standards since 1996. Mineta requested that ban be lifted in the current budget, and the department and several members of Congress have been considering an increase.

"This could be an important policy shift by the administration," said Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., who held hearings on CAFE standards last month and has been drafting a bill that would increase fuel economy requirements. "They may finally be putting aside their resistance and recognizing that it is appropriate for Congress to set a fuel economy standard and help break our dependence on foreign oil."
Other environmentalists were not so optimistic. "I presume they are trying to head off what is likely to be a Senate vote on CAFE standards and save more oil that we import from Saudi Arabia every year," said the Sierra Club's Dan Becker.
"The administration seems willing to fight wars but unwilling to take sensible steps to cut out oil dependence." David Friedman, a senior analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said, "Given the administration's record on the environment, we are not confident that they will produce a number that will protect energy security and the environment."

Mineta said the president's budget will request $ 1 mm for the Transportation Department to spend on fuel economy standards during the next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1. The current budget allows $ 60,000 for the program, but the department wants to shift money so that it can spend more than $ 800,000 this year, Mineta wrote. Several automakers were sceptical that a weight-based system would be an improvement over the CAFE system, which most of them oppose.
"Proposals like that would just create different winners and losers," said Gloria Bergquist, spokeswoman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers. "You set it up one way, you benefit some companies and not others. You set it up another way, you benefit others. So there are a lot of details that have to be looked at."