It's easy for Congress to pass a law, but sometimes a little harder for the consumer to afford their laws.
Case in point, CNS News reports that those fuel standards that the tree huggers like so much will come out of YOUR wallet.
The new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards - set by Congress and signed into law by President Bush in the new energy bill - will require vehicles to get 35 miles per gallon by the year 2020 and will add somewhere between $900 and $10,000 to the cost of buying a car, dependent upon which expert is consulted.
And it's not just the money, but the safety of ever-cheaper and lighter cars.
"It also noted that downsizing of vehicles in the 1970s and 1980s may have contributed to an additional 1,300 to 2,600 fatalities (alone)" - a number that could add up to thousands more deaths on American highways under the new CAFE standards, Ebell said.
The good ole powerful, mighty, majestic and stylish American car has already morphed into a clone of the boxish, flimsy, characterless foreign cars. Apparently it's only going to get worse...and cost more.
Our cars are already mostly plastic as it is. What's next: plastic bumpers? Plastic rims? Plastic frames?
And while the other cars out there might be made out of plastic also, those guard rails and trees aren't going to get any softer.
2 comments:
And it would be easier for the consumer to afford gas at $150-$200 or more a barrel?
Add to that the fact that automakers have 12 years to develop engine technology (which already exists to some extent) to meet these standards without compromising safety.
But I guess that doesn't matter to those that call BS on anything no matter how much it is needed because it stresses big business
If the spineless politicians would quit kissing the feet of the tree huggers, and start producing more domestic oil and building some new refineries for the first time in 30 years, we wouldn't have any concern for what the Middle East charges for oil--in fact, theirs would have to come down if we were producing more. That's what happens in a free market when supply increases.
As for this fabled new engine technology, it didn't materialize the last time they imposed mileage standards; auto companies just started producing cheap garbage made out of plastic that was lighter. There's no reason to expect anything different this time.
If you didn't have such disdain for business, Bob, you'd be able to see this more clearly.
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