Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Letter to the editor:

Freezing CAFE is a step back

The rollback on Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards is detrimental to the American people in ways that will have serious consequences not only for our economy, but the environment as well.

The automotive industry’s failure and bailout in 2008 has direct correlation to the oil industry. Gas prices were higher than ever, and the Big Three (Ford, Chrysler and General Motors) were producing gas-guzzlers that no one could afford. As a result, under the Clean Air Act, they agreed to reduce carbon emissions and oil dependence, and transition into new fleets of cleaner vehicle models.

Putting this on hold is a step back. The bailout money won’t be used for what was agreed upon, and when the time comes for standards to be tightened, the industry will suffer again as it scrambles to meet environmental requirements.

By 2025, the freeze would increase U.S. oil consumptionto 283,000 barrels a day; by 2030, to 644,000 barrels a day. Is that what we want for our country, to be at the mercy of the oil industry?

The American people are going to be stuck paying more per gallon of gasoline, another bailout, and a struggle to return to the path of reducing carbon emissions that we’ve already set. America needs the CAFE standards.