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by Carl Pope and Ron Gettelfinger
The Bush administration has issued a proposal that would weaken one of the nation's most successful environmental laws. The administration's plan would change current automotive fuel economy standards and allow a loophole that would hurt the environment, auto workers and the economy.
While many details of the plan remain vague, and any changes would not take effect for several years, the administration has begun soliciting public comment on its proposal.
Under current law, automakers are required to meet an average fuel economy standard for their fleets of cars and light trucks. They can make vehicles that fall below the average so long as they make enough that exceed it. By requiring an average fuel economy of 27.5 miles per gallon for cars and 20.7 for light trucks, current standards save more than 2.8 million barrels of oil per day while reducing heat-trapping global warming emissions by nearly 600 million tons per year.
At the same time, workers and communities benefit because auto companies must produce small cars in the United States to balance out their production of larger vehicles. This fleetwide approach gives companies flexibility in designing and producing vehicles.
The Bush administration is proposing to scrap these standards for a new system that would establish a series of vehicle weight categories, with a separate standard for each category. Basically, heavier vehicles would have lower fuel standards. Since they would no longer need to meet a fleetwide average, automakers would be free to add weight to all of their vehicles to make them qualify for heavier weight categories.
The result would be a reduction in overall fuel economy and an increase in pollution. America's dependence on foreign oil would increase, and our environment would suffer.
The shift to a weight-based system could also jeopardize the jobs of thousands of Americans who work, either directly or indirectly, on the production of small cars.
The current rules require automakers to meet fleetwide fuel economy standards separately for cars made in the United States and cars made overseas. Both domestic and foreign-made cars sold in the United States must average 27.5 miles per gallon.
The effect of this requirement has been to keep good jobs in America. Without a fleetwide standard, auto companies would be free to shift the production of smaller, less profitable vehicles from the United States to overseas. As there is already overcapacity in the auto industry, this could lead to the closing of plants that produce mostly small cars and parts for small cars.
United States manufacturing is already in deep crisis, with employment having declined every month since President Bush took office -- a total of 2.8 million lost manufacturing jobs. The Bush administration should not aggravate the problem with changes in fuel economy standards that could jeopardize the jobs of thousands of workers in the auto industry. Even some automakers have expressed concern about these new standards, preferring the existing rules to uncertain new requirements.
The Sierra Club and the United Auto Workers do not always agree on automobile policy. We do agree, however, that the Bush administration's proposal would destroy American jobs, reduce fuel economy and increase global warming emissions -- and add to the burdens of an already struggling auto industry.
Carl Pope is executive director of the Sierra Club. Ron Gettelfinger is president of the U.A.W.
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