CAFE's Three Strikes - It Should be Out

The federal Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standard was enacted during the 1975 energy crisis. It required auto manufacturers to meet certain mileage standards, measured in Miles Per Gallon (mpg), across a manufacturer's entire fleet of vehicles. CAFE was originally proposed as a means of reducing America's dependence on foreign oil.

• Original CAFE standards were 18 mpg for cars and 15.8 mpg for light trucks up to 6,000 pounds.

• Current CAFE standards are 27.5 mpg for cars and 20.7 mpg for light trucks.

• In the future, CAFE advocates want Congress to set fuel economy standards at 40 mpg for both cars and light trucks.

Legislators, noting CAFE's inability to reduce reliance on foreign oil, among other problems, have placed a moratorium on increases in the CAFE standard. But in the aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attacks, CAFE supporters are mounting a two-pronged justification for raising CAFE standards. They are again raising the specter of energy "security," and also are arguing that increasing the mpg standard for cars and light trucks will help reduce global warming.

CAFE has three strikes against it:

• The best evidence suggests that raising CAFE standards will not reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil.

• Even if human activity is contributing to global warming, raising CAFE standards will have little or no effect.

• CAFE standards - both at their present level and at the proposed higher levels - pose a significant risk to life and health.