Editorial: Pushing for better gas mileage

Sunday, Nov. 20, 2005 | 8 a.m.

The country began questioning its reliance on foreign oil after the 1973 gas shortages, which were caused by the major oil-producing countries agreeing among themselves to cut back on production. Two years later Congress passed the Energy Policy and Conservation Act. Included in this legislation was a regulation affecting automakers called CAFE, which stands for Corporate Average Fuel Economy.

Never before had automakers been required by law to build fuel-efficient vehicles, hence the muscle cars of that era. Gradually the law took hold and fuel efficiency greatly improved. Today an automaker's passenger cars are required to average 27.5 miles a gallon and its light trucks (minivans, pickups and SUVs) must average 20.7 miles per gallon. The "fleet" average -- cars and trucks together -- is about 24 miles per gallon.

The standard for passenger cars has not changed since 1985 and the standard for light trucks has not changed since 1996. In 2002 Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and John Kerry, D-Mass., sponsored legislation that would have upped the average for cars and SUVs to 36 miles a gallon. The legislation went nowhere. Also, Congress passed an energy bill this June that failed to include increased CAFE standards.

In August, however, gas prices broke the $3-a-gallon barrier as the price of a barrel of oil rose past $70. While the price has now tapered off to a still-high $56, the sudden spikes were enough to draw attention once again to automobile fuel efficiency. In September a group of Republicans and Democrats in the House introduced a bill to raise the fleet average to 33 miles a gallon. And there are efforts now in both the Senate and House to raise the average to 40 miles a gallon.

The United States Public Interest Research Group, a nonprofit consumer organization, has analyzed what a 40-miles-per-gallon requirement would do when fully phased in: save 5.4 million barrels of oil a day, cut 600 million tons of global-warming pollution a year and save each individual consumer thousands of dollars a year at the pumps.

Today, with hybrid technology coming on fast, there is no reason to cling to fuel-efficiency standards dating back to the 1980s. When given a push by the government in the 1970s, automakers responded efficiently. It's time for another push.