Former EPA official punctures myths about the CAFE standards

Margo T. Oge, the author and former EPA official who defended ethanol so well in The Wall Street Journal last November, has a new post on HuffPo that takes on three myths about the nation’s fuel-economy standards for vehicles.

Oge, who wrote the book “Driving the Future: Combating Climate Change with Cleaner, Smarter Cars,” mentions that some automakers appear to be pushing back against the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, just in time for the Midterm Evaluation happening this year. The public will be able to comment on the joint technical report published by the EPA and National Highway Transportation Safety Administration in June.

Oge, who’s the former director of EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality, debunks three myths about the standards, including: “With low gasoline prices, consumers are buying more SUVs so the Government should change the standards and not force consumers into small cars.

She answers:

“If consumers decide they want to buy SUVs instead of compacts, the car companies aren’t penalized for producing more SUVs. In fact, a manufacturer, let’s say Chrysler, could sell nothing but SUVs, as long as those larger vehicles meet the standards established by the regulation. The bottom line is that the consumer buying an SUV today will have a car that is more fuel efficient and cleaner than a SUVs purchased in 2010. By 2025, it will be even cleaner and more fuel-efficient than today.”

Read the post here.