Officials at the U.S. EPA have criticized their counterparts at the U.S. Transportation Department lately over the DOT's proposed fuel-economy standards for vehicles of 31.6 miles per gallon by 2015. The EPA has said the DOT used an unreasonably low figure for future gasoline prices -- $2.42 a gallon in 2016 and a high of $3.37 a gallon -- which skewed the final cost-benefit figures in favor of lower fuel-economy standards; the 2007 energy bill mandates that automakers meet a standard of 35 miles per gallon by 2020, but the legislation allows the DOT to set the interim standards. "EPA has several concerns with the methodology used to determine the relative benefits and costs of the alternatives analyzed," said EPA's Susan Bromm in flawless bureaucratese (the shared language of all U.S. federal agencies). The EPA also criticized the DOT for putting what it said was too low a value on the societal benefits of reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, saying that the DOT calculated only the costs to the U.S. and not to other nations of the world that are also impacted by climate change.
source: Associated Press
Obama headed to Copenhagen, sets the bar for success
‘Copenhagen Diagnosis’ offers a grim update to the IPCC’s climate science
Comments
View as Flat
archigeek Posted 2:22 am
03 Sep 2008
Permalink
Tasermons Partner Posted 4:12 am
03 Sep 2008
Permalink
paullove Posted 5:44 am
03 Sep 2008
Permalink
Wolverine Posted 10:36 am
03 Sep 2008
Because they have no interest in doing it. For some reason that I don't really understand even though I've read a couple of long explanations, the auto manufacturers see themselves as allied with the oil companies. Higher gas mileage means less gasoline used, so they think it's against their interests to make cars that get good mileage. I had a 1972 Datsun 1200 that got around 40 mpg, and if they could do that over 35 years ago, imagine what they could do now if they really wanted to.
Permalink