“The Obama administration is deciding how much to push U.S. drivers into fuel-efficient cars,” a recent Washington Post article noted.
But why should the administration be “pushing” drivers in one direction or the other on the fuel efficiency of their cars? The free market is already doing that – if the federal government will only get out of the way.
Many drivers these days are buying cars that get higher gas mileage, and the auto industry will respond to that by building more of those cars. Many other drivers have reduced discretionary trips and otherwise cut back on their driving as gas prices have risen to the $4-per-gallon range. Still others are carpooling to work, church or other destinations.
All those efforts help Americans cut down on transportation costs.
But the administration doesn’t trust Americans to make their own free-market choices. So it is considering forcing car makers to boost average fuel economy to as much as 62 miles per gallon by 2025. Achieving that standard could add up to $10,000 to the price of a new car, automakers say. Is that really something Washington should be imposing on the auto industry, which needed massive bailouts just a couple of years ago?
Federal regulators say they are just trying to fight “global warming,” which they blame in part on auto emissions. They say more fuel-efficient cars would reduce those emissions and hold down worldwide temperature increases.
That’s a theory. But what is definitely not a theory is that car prices will skyrocket if the Obama administration slaps big fuel-efficiency standard increases on the auto industry.
Our weak economy cannot afford that.