Often, what government doesn’t do can be more beneficial than what it does. For instance, late last year, federal regulators were considering forcing automobile dealers to display “letter grades” on vehicles based on their environmental impact and fuel efficiency.
Vehicles with higher emissions and lower mileage per gallon would have gotten poor grades, and those with lower emissions and higher mileage would have gotten better grades.
But the letter grade proposal was a bad idea. After all, a large pickup truck might have lower mileage than an electric car, but it’s not a fair comparison because the pickup can be used to haul heavy loads that a car couldn’t handle.
Fortunately, regulators have backed off the letter grade scheme. Instead, they’ll simply require clear disclosure of estimated fuel costs, tailpipe emissions and so forth. The information will be provided on labels affixed to all new vehicles, starting with model year 2013.
That will let consumers decide which vehicles get “passing grades” and which “fail.”