Are Fuel Economy Standards Useful in Lowering Carbon Pollution?

The Federalist Society are McConnells lap dog puppets

Does a little old lady driving her 2003 Impala, and only 20 miles per week, pollute as much as a young gal driving her 2019 KIA 500 miles per week? Think about it.

You are now trying to steal our oxygen. More co2 means more o2 which grows us into giants. They dont want you to know.

Cars are getting more efficient, but we're driving more than ever.

Considering some of the cheapest vehicles on the new market are actually some of the more efficient vehicles, I beg to differ that increasing fuel efficiency automatically means that everything costs more. Every "cheapest new car" listing has vehicles getting very good MPG. In reality, requiring more MPG just means that there are tradeoffs in what you get. Not what you get will cost more. Fully equipped pickups are pushing 80,000 dollars, and they do not get 30mpg.

There are electric vehicles, hybrids, plugins, fuel efficient 4 cylinders and diesel cars, and models with various trims with smaller and larger engines which also have obvious variability on mileage. Outside of a few outliers, such as high-end Telsas pushing 100k, *all of these vehicles are much cheaper than large SUV's and trucks*.

What is driving up costs are new technologies and safety standards. LCD screens, USB ports, Navigation systems, auto-safety systems like Onstar, multiple airbags, Bluetooth, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, automatic trans AC and FM radios are all standard. Fuel efficient engines have existed for almost as long as ICE have existed.

There have been fuel efficient vehicles around loooooong before CAFE was around. The Beetle was already pushing 25-30 miles per gallon, and it entered US in 1949. There are loads of other examples. One of the reasons Japanese vehicles found success in the US was because of their introduction bringing efficiency right after the fuel crisis.

Could CAFE be improved/modernized? Sure, but trying to throw shade on standards while ignoring the fact that the market would prefer more efficient vehicles over time (just like how the Japanese vehicles exploded into the market) is a little dishonest.

Regulating that we go in the right direction, even slowly is better than allowing us to continue in the wrong direction at any speed. Generally People choose to drive more based on the amount of time it takes not so much on the cost of driving. Fuel economy also restricts the size and power to weight of vehicles helping to create a safer environment for all road users.

Consumers in Texas most definitely undervalue fuel economy for the biggest vehicle they can pay a car note on. Everyone and their mama drives a truck over here.

People don’t drive more because it’s cheaper. People will drive as much as is required for them to go about their lives, no matter the cost.

I mean, what’s your endgame? Just don’t regulate things?

Other countries are also doing this right?

They need to start taxing the hell out of large trucks, including pickups, and giving more breaks to motorcycles. I drive past apartment complexes with parking lots half full of 1/2 ton pick ups and Yukons etc. Tax the shit out of those vehicles.

No.

Of course the answer is to maintain and drive cars as long as possible. Its cheaper and better for the environment than buying any new car. When you consider the carbon footprint of actually building a new car.

As Florida and the south are impacted by TWO Category 5 hurricanes, and fires have raged across California, we need to do everything we can to reduce carbon emissions. Even if CAFE isn't perfect, closing the CAFE loophole for trucks and SUVs would be a good start. Until we do that, we will have more catastrophic weather events and more people will lose their homes and livelihoods. Some people will pay with their lives. How many more peoples' lives need to be upended before people get over buying the biggest truck or SUV they can afford because they think it makes their d_-k look bigger or so they can cultivate a "tough guy" image on their commute from their McMansion in the suburbs? Or will they only change when devastation hits their own back yard? Or will they not even change then? Choices have consequences. But in a globalized world of 8 billion people, each of our choices has consequences for everyone else.