Robert Samuelson’s “Getting rid of our debilitating oil problem” (Commentary, Oct. 12) argued that federal mileage requirements on American auto consumers should be increased.
So-called corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) regulations, Samuelson argued, would help address our dependence on Middle East oil.
Yet CAFE regulations have failed to do exactly that in the past, and they would fail in the future.
What is more, a tightening of CAFE regulations could cost thousands of American jobs at a time our economy can least afford that.
CAFE regulations have utterly failed to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.
That is because increased fuel economy imposed on American drivers immediately led to a corresponding increase in miles traveled.
CAFE’s oil savings were less than a tenth of what they were projected to be, according to the Coalition for Vehicle Choice. And there is no way around the fact that before strict CAFE standards were imposed in the 1970s, America imported about 36 percent of its oil from abroad–and today we import about 50 percent.
A lot of auto-related jobs are at stake in Illinois–about 311,900 according to the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers.
The auto industry accounts for 45,400 direct jobs.
And the industry also is related to 114,900 auto production or sales jobs, and 151,600 jobs created by the expenditures of auto industry employees.
The new CAFE regulation would add $500 to $2,500 to the cost of these vehicles.
And the United Auto Workers estimates that 100,000 jobs would be lost.
Obviously this would exacerbate an already serious problem in the American auto industry.
It also would have serious consequences for our economy.
Members of Congress need to focus their attention on energy legislation and other measures that meet our needs without tying up an already struggling economy with red tape.
