Fuel rules views mixed

Some praise Obama’s plan, but others say vehicles will cost more

Peter Marcus, DDN Staff Writer

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Local environmental advocates yesterday hailed President Obama’s proposal for higher national efficiency standards for cars and trucks.

But those in the auto industry point out that consumers would be required to fork over an additional $600 in order to make up for the manufacturers’ burden of having to produce vehicles with an average 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016.

The national standards proposed by Obama would bring the nation in line with 14 states and the District of Columbia, which have pushed for the right to enact tougher fuel efficiency standards than the federal government requires. California started the trend.

Obama’s plan also calls for requiring that vehicle carbon dioxide emissions be reduced by about one-third by 2016.

Environment Colorado hailed the proposal as the right approach to putting clean cars on the road.

“President Obama is proving himself behind the wheel in the race to a clean energy economy,” said Keith Hay, an energy advocate with Environment Colorado. “This historic action will reduce our dependence on oil, save consumers money at the pump, and cut global warming pollution.”
Obama is projecting that oil consumption would be reduced by 1.8 billion barrels over the life of the program. He added that there would be significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, savings equivalent to removing about 177 million cars from the roads.

Consumers would save about $2,800 through better gas mileage, which would offset the increased price of a vehicle, said Obama. Consumers are already paying an extra $700 for previously adopted mileage standards, which would bring the total increase to $1,300 by 2016.

Less variety?

Tim Jackson, president of the Colorado Automobile Dealers Association, said that while the proposal is a good thing for accelerating the development of more fuel-efficient vehicles, reducing the nation’s dependence on foreign oil and reducing carbon emissions — consumers would see less variety at their local dealer.

As manufacturers struggle to produce more fuel-efficient vehicles, dealers would be stocked with smaller and lighter vehicles, said Jackson.

For Coloradans who love their big SUVs, that would mean having to pay more for the larger size.

“Does that mean that a full-sized SUV won’t be available? Not necessarily, but they’ll cost more — in fact, they’ll cost a lot more,” said Jackson. “The reason for that is that it would necessitate the pricing scheme on the new motor vehicles — it will be geared toward pushing smaller cars and holding the larger ones.”

“The price of the full-sized pickup, van and SUV will be considerably more, and that’s from a marketability standpoint — (manufacturers) will want to be able to encourage people into the smaller, cleaner cars, and they’ll have to absorb some of the cost of production of those and put them on the SUV owner,” continued Jackson. “The SUV owner’s not going to like that very well when it comes time to buy that more expensive SUV — they’re already more expensive.”

Phase-in would start in 2012

The new standards would be phased in starting in 2012. The U.S. Congress does not have to approve the standards, which would be implemented through federal rules. The proposal must be approved by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Transportation Department.

Obama has the support of 10 automakers, as well as union leaders.

Gov. Bill Ritter yesterday said the proposal fits with Colorado’s “New Energy Economy” and Climate Action Plan, which calls for a 20 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 and an 80 percent reduction by 2050.

“President Obama’s historic agreement to reduce automobile emissions and increase fuel efficiency will help transition America to a clean energy economy and a new energy future,” said Ritter. “These new standards will help break our dependence on foreign oil, reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, benefit consumers, and provide much-needed economic certainty and stability to the auto-manufacturing industry.”

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