While the Bush administration continues to promote a national energy policy favoring more fossil fuel use -- oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, denying widely accepted scientific data on climate change, underwriting oil exploration and drilling in wilderness areas with public tax dollars -- the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is dragging its heels on revisions for tests that determine automobiles' actual miles-per-gallon performance.
The Bluewater Network, a California-based environmental policy organization, petitioned EPA and the Department of Transportation (DOT) in 2002 to update their fuel economy programs, which were initially mandated by Congress in the mid-1970s.
EPA last adjusted its testing methods in 1985. "In today's environment with mounting evidence of global warming, concern about the security implications of our dependence on foreign oil, and relatively high gasoline prices, consumers and policymakers are increasingly taking fuel economy into account. It is vital that they be provided with accurate information on which to base these decisions," Bluewater wrote.
While drivers now spend more time in congested driving conditions due to urban sprawl than in the mid-70s, and drive at faster highway speeds, fuel economy is still calculated based on driving conditions and auto technologies over two decades out of date. According to figures cited in the Bluewater petition, cars are getting 14.5 percent fewer miles per gallon than EPA's estimates, and light trucks 19.3 percent less. These shortfalls are likely to rise over time.
Without updated standards and testing, consumers cannot judge how much they will really spend on gasoline for a new car or truck, or how much carbon dioxide (CO2)—a significant greenhouse gas—a vehicle will emit. Cars and light-duty trucks contribute nearly 20 percent to annual U.S. emissions of CO2 -- roughly five percent of the world's annual CO2 emissions. [1]
Late last year the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (part of DOT) proposed revisions to fuel economy standards, including the creation of new weight classes for current types of cars and trucks. This new system would close a current loophole that exempts certain weights of trucks from fuel economy standards, but it would also establish weaker standards for heavier vehicles. U.S.PIRG notes in a recent report that automobile manufacturers may actually add weight to vehicles in order to avoid the stricter requirements.
"The Bush administration should be looking for ways to save consumers money at the pump and wean us from oil—foreign or domestic—in the long term," U.S.PIRG writes. "Instead of taking advantage of [existing] automobile technology to achieve a 40 mpg standard, the administration is pushing an energy policy that emphasizes the technologies of yesterday and has opposed all meaningful increases in fuel economy." [2]
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TAKE ACTION
Submit comments to EPA through the Bluewater Network.
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SOURCES:
[1] Bluewater Network petition, Jun. 7, 2002.
[2] "Going Nowhere: The Price Consumers Pay for Stalled Fuel Economy Policies," U.S.PIRG, May 2004.
