So the president signed the new energy bill today. It’s progress, to be sure, but I’m having a hard time getting too excited about it. For one thing, it’s a watered-down bill compared to what was originally proposed, with renewable energy funding stripped out, less-aggressive CAFE standards, and continued subsidies for oil and coal. For another, the new CAFE standards don’t take effect until 2020. For those keeping score at home, that’s twelve years away. 2010 or 2012 would have been something to get excited about. As it is, it’s better than nothing, and it’s worlds better than what a GOP congress would have given us, but still: Meh.
Your thoughts?
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leanleft
Kevin
tgirsch
Kevin T. Keith
Judd
>For those keeping score at home, that’s twelve years away.
>2010 or 2012 would have been something to get excited about.
You realize that car companies aren’t just sitting on plans for super efficient cars just to be evil. It takes time to design and build these cars, especially since the technology needed for them doesn’t exist yet.
#1, I doubt there’s any car maker in America that has firm plans for what their cars will look like much beyond 2011. (Although I’ll grant that 2010 is probably too aggressive.)
#2, I should clarify that I don’t suggest that the full 35 MPG standard be mandated by 2010, but that there be a phased approach. The CAFE standards haven’t been changed since the mid-70′s, and every modern car maker could easily boost their CAFE average simply by making more of certain already-in-production models and fewer of others.
#3, You could easily make cars that get 40+ mpg with technology that exists today (indeed, with technology that has existed for years). It’s just that such cars aren’t as “sexy” as a lot of the low-efficiency high-horsepower models. I understand that you’re a libertarian “let the market decide” type, and that’s fine, as far as it goes. I also understand the marketing reasons why more efficient cars haven’t been more widely built and sold; but it has absolutely nothing to do with technology not yet existing.