Posted by Jonathan Adler:
More on the New Auto Emission & Efficiency Standards:
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009_05_17-2009_05_23.shtml#1242738118
Today's [1]Washington Post confirms what I [2]suspected, the new
automotive fuel efficiency standards to be announced today will double
as national vehicle emission standards for carbon dioxide (which only
makes sense, as controlling fuel economy limits carbon dioxide
emissions and vice-versa). It also explains why the automakers would
accept the deal: "clarity and predictability," along with a single
national standard It will also raise the average price of new cars by
several hundred dollars, some portion of which will be offset by fuel
cost savings.
Under the compromise, the federal government would establish two
sets of standards, one for mileage and one for tailpipe emissions
of carbon dioxide.
The Transportation Department's National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration would set the new fuel-economy standards, which
would raise the average fuel efficiency of a new car by 30 percent.
Cars, for instance, would need to average 39 miles per gallon by
2016, while light trucks would need to reach 30 mpg.
The EPA, using its power to regulate carbon dioxide emissions under
a 2007 Supreme Court ruling, plans a tailpipe emissions standard of
250 grams per mile for vehicles sold in 2016, roughly the
equivalent of what would be emitted by vehicles meeting the mileage
standard. Vehicles sold in 2009 are expected to emit about 380
grams per mile, industry sources said. The EPA needs to go through
a rulemaking process to allow responses before the standards would
go into effect.
One person involved in the negotiation said the Supreme Court's
ruling on regulating emissions helped push companies to bargain
because they feared the prospect of having to comply with separate
EPA standards in addition to those from NHTSA and California.
"That's what brought the companies to the table," the person said.
The other thing the story notes is that the EPA will also go forward
with standards for vehicle air coolant emissions, and that compliance
with these rules may generate credits toward meeting the fuel economy
standards.
References
1.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/18/AR2009051801848.html?hpid=topnews
2. http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009_05_17-2009_05_23.shtml#1242674919
_______________________________________________
Volokh mailing list
[email protected]
http://lists.powerblogs.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/volokh
