How to Improve the Economy? Why, Impose a 54.5 MPG Auto Mandate!

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This plan, says a booster, will “create jobs,” save Americans money, improve the auto industry, etc. Kind of makes you wonder why automakers wouldn’t just go ahead and do it, if it’s so good for them, but you are not supposed to ask that question.

Anonymous

Devil’s advocate: It would be just like the evil bastards to LOBBY for such a standard to form another Govt. mandated mini-monopoly.
will_89

It could mean more oil for the military-industrial complex to use.
Anonymous

I swear, a three year old could poke holes through most of the big ideas that are proposed these days.
BD

Mind-numbingly stupid. The first two sentences set up the entire mentality of this economically ignorant statist. Awful! Just awful!
timbercruiser

OH, the author is with the natrual resources defense council. That explains everything.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Steven-Grim/26519204 Steven Grim

This is why I get a little bit angry every time I open the hood of my car to check the oil. I stand there pondering what would be in my engine compartment if engineers weren’t reinventing the wheel every 5-10 years to comply with federal fuel efficiency and emissions standards. Probably a more reliable and less expensive engine.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Michael-Mitrosky/717647120 Michael Mitrosky

Somebody should tell the author of the 54.5mpg article that ford already makes vehicles that get over 70mpg – in Europe.

Govt regulations in America prohibit those 70+mpg cars from being sold in the USA.
eric j

I’ll add to the mix by encouraging people to do a little research on the John Pogue Carburetor from the 1930′s and Tom Ogle’s similar invention in the 1970′s. These little gems were getting over 100 mpg. Strange you say!? A client of mine who is a ‘motorhead’ shared the experience of one of his relatives who had purchased an American vehicle, which shall remain presently nameless, back in the 1980′s and, by mistake, the mfr. had put on on this particular truck an experimental carburetor that was consistently getting 45 mpg. Not to shabby for a truck in the 1980′s. Needless to say, after checking and doublechecking and then relaying this to the mfr., they wanted him to bring in the truck to “fix” it. “NFW!!” was his response to them…and rightfully so.
When enough people realize that the US Gvt and it’s bedfellows in the auto & oil industries are there to dutifully “stick it” to the American people then we’ll start to see some real change. For now, the MPG requirements will inch up in proportion to the long term expected price of gasoline…..so you’ll ALWAYS be spending the same percentage of your household income on fuel. Funny how that works.
Frank M

Eric, I will look up Pogue and Ogle. Sounds interesting. Thanks. But I feel compelled to tell you that when I was a little kid, I heard the same story about the “experimental” high mileage carburetor that was “installed by mistake.” That was during the Nixon Administration. That doesn’t mean your client or his relative wasn’t telling the truth. I suppose these top secret carburetors could’ve been installed by mistake every 10 years or so. But you know, since carburetors went the wayside around 1990, I have to wonder how many miles they got out of secret fuel injected vehicles?
http://twitter.com/thinkliberdy Dave B

Side note:

Your book, Politically Incorrect Guide to American History, made the Amazon top 100 “Red” books. http://www.amazon.com/gp/election-heatmap#4
Anonymous

How many people will this kill, as cars get lighter – to improve fuel efficiency – they become more dangerous.
Pastor Ko-Rect

Another good mandate would be to require that all physical transportation is eliminated by 2014 and is replaced by molecular transformation. We could save $trillions and have more money to bailout gamblers and bomb friends.
http://twitter.com/bmac6446 Bobby McKeown

As with all things economic, there are trade offs. We could easily achieve that standard but at what trade off? Having been a truck driver in Germany for over 7 years I witnessed the trade off of light weight cars and high speeds. Pretty gruesome.