Auto Emissions
As long as automobiles have existed, they have spewed dangerous toxins into the air. The content and volume of these emissions have changed over the years. When leaded gasoline was the norm, the blood lead levels of the American population were significantly higher than they are today. Before catalytic converters, smog was an even worse problem, especially in car-heavy cities like Los Angeles. Currently, America's cars contribute to a staggering one-fifth of our nation’s carbon emissions and almost half of global automotive carbon emissions.
Cry Wolf Quotes
The whole CAFE scheme is, in terms of public policy, ridiculous, and has the practical effects of driving U.S. jobs abroad.
The restrictions make us waste oil every time we make gasoline [thus forcing costs up].
If we sell too many big cars in any quarter in 1978, we’ll have to hold back our product mix and we’ll have to ration or allocate cars. The law is final now, but if enough people complain when they can’t get a big car, maybe the government will revise its legislation. To meet 27.5 m.p.g. by ’85, the average weight of cars will have to be about 3,200 pounds versus 4,000 pounds now. That means every car would be a compact, subcompact, or smaller. The new law implies that we must get better fuel economy between 1980 and 1985 then between 1978 and 1980. That’s unlikely.
I would hope we would never get into a position that we’d have to tell our customers they can’t buy certain cars because of the mileage requirements.
Related Laws and Rules
Evidence
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CAFE Standards Not an Undue Burden on Domestic Manufacturers
CAFE standards clearly contributed to increased fuel economy and didn't unduly burden the domestic manufacturers.
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Experts Claim the National Highway Safety Administration (NHTSA) Saves Lives and Money
Safety experts make the case for the National Highway Safety Administration (NHTSA).
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Costs and Benefits of Reducing Lead in Gasoline
The benefits of removing lead from gasoline dramatically exceeded costs.
Backgrounders & Briefs
The Success of CAFE Standards
How the CAFE standard and its successes.
The Secret History of Lead
This immense article is an intricately detailed history of leaded gasoline, from the industry's early cover-ups to their attempts to defeat EPA regulations.
The Removal of Lead From Gasoline: Historical and Personal Reflections
First-person historical analysis of the leaded gasoline fight.
