Energy

Energy

Commentary

PG&E’s success in Washington led to failure in San Bruno

August 31, 2011
Claims of EPA "train wreck" derailed

Claims of EPA "Train Wreck" Derailed

August 26, 2011
Clean Fuels Standard

Northeast Clean Fuels Standard = Thousands of Jobs, Billions of Dollars

August 16, 2011

New Hampshire Governor Defends RGGI

July 07, 2011

Cry Wolf Quotes

If we sell too many big cars in any quarter in 1978, we’ll have to hold back our product mix and we’ll have to ration or allocate cars. The law is final now, but if enough people complain when they can’t get a big car, maybe the government will revise its legislation. To meet 27.5 m.p.g. by ’85, the average weight of cars will have to be about 3,200 pounds versus 4,000 pounds now. That means every car would be a compact, subcompact, or smaller. The new law implies that we must get better fuel economy between 1980 and 1985 then between 1978 and 1980. That’s unlikely.

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Charles Heinen, Director of Emissions and Fuel Economy Certification for Chrysler, Chicago Tribune.

The more efficient new cars won’t save a drop of gas until they’re purchased. If they don’t sell, not only energy conservation, but pollution and safety improvements will be set back.

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Unidentified GM Spokesman, Chicago Tribune.

Absent a significant technological breakthrough. . . the largest car the industry will be selling in any volume at all will probably be smaller, lighter, and less powerful than today’s compact Chevy Nova…

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E.M. Estes, the president of General Motors. Oil Daily. 1975.

We’re certainly not, and I don’t think congress should be, in the business of mandating consumer choice. If you do the math on it, the consumer will never pay for it. We obviously don’t think the CAFE standards are very well thought out.

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GM CEO and President Richard Wagoner, meeting with Washington Times editors and reporters.

Evidence

Backgrounders & Briefs

The Success of CAFE Standards

How the CAFE standard and its successes.

Resources

Political Economy Research Institute is a think tank focused on a variety of subjects such as diverse financial regulation, living wages and environmental protection.

Consumer Federation of America defends the consumer interest in fields ranging from housing and financial services to food safety.