[P.O.E.]

Doesn’t matter. There won’t be anywhere worth going to by then.

[bmwcyle]

Car companies will be loaded with models that meet the average MPG but will not sell. The few models that have size and performance will be their only big sellers.

[wolfpat]

They didn’t even mention that one of the reasons for the high price of good used cars is that so many were destroyed in the President’s “Cash for Clunkers” program. Less cars = higher prices.

[Eye of Unk]

I would rather drive an older Peterbilt than a new GM econfoilmobile.

[davius]

Add human powered pedal cars to the product line and use them to skew the MPG average.

[Common Sense 101]

The author incorrectly assumes the consequences are unitended.

[dartuser]

A car company that has 9 gas-guzzlers and one Fred Flintstone model will meet that "across all models" average.

If the Volt II gets 300 MPG, and the other 9 models only get 30 MPG ... the average will be 57 MPG ... and the car company meets the regulations.

What an utterly stupid law.

[FreedomPoster]

The solution to the problem is obvious to any conservative - take CAFE out behind the barn, and kill it with an ax.

The government should not be dictating corporate average fuel economy. The marketplace should by the cars the individual buyers choose to purchase. Fire the bureaucracy that creates, tabulates, and enforces this nonsense and force them to get out and make an honest living.

[RWB Patriot]

Wonder what big brother’s plans are when people start raising cain over this. Even the most stupid useful idiot has his limits.

[SECURE AMERICA]

My motorcycle doesn’t get 54 mile per gallon.
Our Government is out of control and is destroying this Country........
But then this is only a money making scheme anyhow. No car company can have an entire line getting 54mpg by 2025 or likely ever. So as the deadline approaches and the car companies are not there yet the Government will grant waivers for “monetary penalties”

[moovova]

What a great article.

I have to laugh when I see folks driving around in those little roller-skate Fiat 500s or Fart Cars. They’re hardly any bigger than the bugs on my car’s grill. Splat...

[Hardraade]

Of course Zero can make that happen.

All downhill. Zero gallons a mile.

[DJ Frisat]

What’s being overlooked here is that you can’t legislate technology advances and innovation. That happens as a part of Capitalism & the free market economic model.

If the geniuses in Washington really believe that all they have to do is pass a law to fix a problem, why don’t they dictate that medicine develop a cure for cancer by 2015?

Don’t the care about us?

Sheesh...

[wayoverontheright]

Perhaps the worst “unintended consequence” of CAFE can be seen by examining the aftermath of the first round of standards begun in the late 70’s.

The automakers did succeed in increasing the fuel economy of cars by roughly 50%. This means that the cost per mile driven went down significantly.

Over time, these more efficient vehicles enabled the exodus from city centers to suburbs and beyond. Commuting an hour or more to work became the norm instead of the exception.

CAFE accelerated urban sprawl and created the shopping mall.

It is estimated that we drive some 35% more today than we did pre-CAFE.

Those of us already outside city centers probably cannot drive much more than we already do, but is it not possible that the future government mandated efficiency will engender further exit from our cities, and thus increase the amount of fuel we use?

In which alternative universe can the conservation of a commodity be increased by making it cheaper to use?

[DrC]

These kinds of policies always make me wonder: do progressives hate poor people?

[bray]

Don’t you love Central Planning.

Pray for America

[FLAMING DEATH]

I agree with all but one word:

“Unintended”.

Nothing by this administration is unintended. It’s all going according to plan.

By 2025, we’ll all be dying in fiery crashes that today, would “buff out” with a little wax.

[muir_redwoods]

I just bought a 2002 Audi TT, AWD. Of course it’s a convertible. I spent $11K on it and can’t imagine any new car for under $30K I would like as much.

If you have basic mechanical skills, a used car can be a great option.

[cymbeline]

I'm not in favor of the new MPG requirements but I don't believe increasing the fleet gas mileage necessarily increases the cost of the car. Smaller, lighter cars with smaller engines should actually be cheaper cars. Buyers will sacrifice power and interior room. I remember a GM engineer being asked why not reduce engine size to improve gas mileage. He said buyers would reject the cars. Oh well ... I also remember the American version Suzuki Samuari that was withdrawn from the market because it tipped over too easily. Turns out the car was built for 3rd world countries with a 30 horsepower engine. A big engine was put into the American version. That's what made it tippy. Guess what. The Prius gets MPG going down the highway. It would get even more MPG in that type of driving if they ripped out the battery and electric motors and the fancy little transmission.

[headstamp 2]

How about getting the inefficient Ethanol out of the fuel chain first. You’d see vehicle mileage increase accordingly.

C for C destroyed an incredible amount of perfectly good used cars. A total sin.

How much pollution and resources were consumed to create the new vehicles to replace these perfectly good used vehicles?

The idiotic fools in government destroy everything they touch.