On Janurary 22, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Dan Inouye (D-HI), with the support of six Committee Democrats, announced a new bill that would increase corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) levels to 35 miles per gallon (mpg) by the 2019 model year. The legislation applies to both passenger cars and light trucks, and would direct the Transportation Department to set safety standards for the auto industry that would mitigate the difference in weight and size among different types of vehicles.
Currently, automakers must meet an overall average target of 27.5 mpg for an entire fleet of passenger cars. Last year, the Administration increased fuel-economy standards for light trucks and sport-utility vehicles based on the size, or "footprint," of different vehicle types. Now regulators are seeking similar authority for passenger cars, according to industry officials, an approach that carmakers prefer to fleet wide-average increases that are mandated by law.
According to Inouye, his bill, if enacted, would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 18 percent by 2025 and cut oil use by 2.1 million barrels of oil per day by that same date.
Other sponsors of the Inouye CAFE standards bill include Commerce Committee members Olympia Snowe (R-ME), John Kerry (D-MA), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Bill Nelson (D- FL), Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ). Four other senators have also backed the bill are: Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Joe Lieberman (I-CT), Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Susan Collins (R-ME).
Although it remains unclear whether a CAFE increase has enough momentum to pass in the 110th Congress, after falling by wide margins in the past, the issue appears to have new legs as not only Democrats but several mostly moderate Republicans have recently come out in favor of an increase. Among them is Senate Commerce Committee Ranking Member Ted Stevens (R-AK), a close Inouye ally, who recently introduced a bill that would raise the CAFE standard to 40 mpg by 2017 model year.
However, Rep. John Dingell (D-MI), Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, is a major obstacle to passage as his district includes Detroit, the center of the U.S. auto industry, and has to date adamantly opposed any mandated increase.