Fuel bill unlikely to make much mileage

Roland Jones Business news editor • Profile • E-mail

With American motorists paying $3 a gallon or more to fill up their cars, it might be comforting to know that new laws are brewing to improve fuel efficiency. But a loophole in the legislation could mean greater fuel efficiency is still a long way off.

A bill approved by a Senate committee this month would require automakers to ensure their passenger vehicle fleets — cars, minivans, pickups and sport utility vehicles — achieve an average fuel consumption rating of 35 miles per gallon by 2020, up from 27.5 mpg currently. The measure also would require carmakers to boost fuel efficiency by 4 percent each year after 2020.

The bill sounds like a step forward, but it was amended shortly before the panel’s vote to allow a reduced standard if the Secretary of Transportation finds "clear and convincing evidence" that achieving Congress' target would not be "cost effective" for the affected automakers.

That could render the final law meaningless, observers argue, as it gives the White House wide latitude to set lower fuel-economy targets.

The shift could still leave “drivers paying too much at the pump,” said Kevin Curtis, senior vice president of the National Environmental Trust, an environmental group. In a statement issued after the vote, the group called on the Senate to improve the bill and deliver improvements "that are long overdue.”

In his State of the Union address this year, President Bush called for an annual, 4 percent improvement in fuel economy, while the National Academy of Sciences has found a mandatory, 35 mpg standard in fuel efficiency to be achievable, safe and cost-effective, Curtis noted.

“The Senate shouldn’t settle for anything less,” he said.

Karen Steuer, vice president for government affairs at the group, noted that the bill has a long way to go before it becomes law. “So we are concerned, not panicked,” she said.

She said she was optimistic that a bill could be passed by the Senate and sent on to the House by June.

President Bush, who has not weighed in on the debate over fuel efficiency standards, ordered federal agencies last week to find a way to begin regulating vehicle emissions by the time he leaves office. He was responding to a Supreme Court ruling last month that declared carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are air pollutants and thus can be regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Bush also has set a goal of reducing gas consumption by 20 percent over 10 years, partly by increasing the use of alternative fuels.

Corporate average fuel economy (or “CAFE”) standards have remained virtually unchanged for more than 30 years, in part because of opposition to any change by the Big Three U.S. automakers.

Despite rising concern about global warming, the high cost of gas and dependence on imported oil, the industry remains opposed to the increase sought by the Senate bill.

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