Energy efficiency—Increasing gas mileage standards to 33 mpg would reduce U.S. oil demand by 1.4 million barrels a day.

Gas Mileage Debate Heats Up The Capitol
Feeling the heat of high gasoline prices and election season, Congress appears closer to raising gas mileage standards for cars and light trucks than ever before. Here in California, gasoline prices hovered at record highs of around $3.20 throughout the summer months. CALPIRG is working to capitalize on this growing momentum and finally make cars and light trucks go farther on a gallon of gasoline.

The Bush administration, faced with the lowest job approval rating of its history in the wake of record gas prices, asked Congress in April for the authority to “revamp” fuel economy standards for cars. Unfortunately, their plan would do little to alleviate pressure at the pump, since it would divide vehicles into new weight classes and set lower standards for larger vehicles. In the end, this could actually take us backward and make cars less fuel-efficient.

“New cars and SUVs on the road are less efficient today than they were during the Reagan administration,” said Alison Cassady, CALPIRG’s research director. “We need to see real progress on gas mileage, not a shuffling of the deck.”

The current standard is 27.5 miles per gallon (mpg) for passenger automobiles and 21.6 mpg for light trucks, which includes SUVs under 8,500 pounds.

Rep. Joe Barton (Texas) has introduced a bill to give the Bush administration the power to restructure the fuel economy standards for cars without guaranteeing any improvement in mileage per gallon. Reps. Ed Markey (Mass.) and Sherwood Boehlert (N.Y.) plan to offer an amendment to the Bush administration-backed Barton bill to increase the combined gas mileage standard for cars and light trucks to at least 33 mpg. If passed, the amendment would be the first significant increase in gas mileage standards in 16 years.

The National Academy of Sciences says that, over the next decade, currently available technology can make the average car travel at least 40 miles per gallon of gas. A recent CALPIRG report found that Americans will pay at least $8.7 billion more in 2006 alone than they would have if President Bush had raised gas mileage standards when he first arrived in office in 2001.

CALPIRG backs a 40 mpg standard as the best way to reduce America’s dependence on oil but acknowledges that the most important step is the first step. The Markey-Boehlert amendment could be that first step. A 33 mpg standard would reduce oil demand by 1.4 million barrels a day and reduce global warming pollution by 239 million tons a year by 2020.

CALPIRG will continue meeting with members of Congress in the coming months to build support for an increase in gas mileage standards. We also recently spoke with state Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez at a news conference where we called on the Bush administration and Congress to provide real relief to consumers from rising gas prices by setting better gas mileage standards for cars and trucks.

Republican Reps. Michael Bilirakis (Fla.), Michael N. Castle (Del.), John R. “Randy” Kuhl, Jr. (N.Y.) and John E. Sweeney (N.Y.) all recently announced that they now support higher gas mileage standards.

“Over the many years that CALPIRG has advocated improving fuel standards, this is the most support we’ve seen,” said Cassady. “Some votes that we wouldn’t have counted on last year are on board.”