After 120 days of the new presidency, the automobile industry provides some of the best evidence of an administration that favors the heavy hand of government meddling in the private sector. And as is the case with mostcoverage of President Obama and his policies, criticism of his automotive tinkering has been sparse.
On May 19, Obama announced a 30-percent increase in Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, which would come to a 35.5 miles per gallon (mpg) average for both cars and light trucks.
Across the board, the announcement the federal government would be dictating what automobiles would be manufactured in the United States received lots of fanfare and very little criticism on the three evening network broadcasts.
During the May 18 evening newscasts and the May 19 morning show coverage, the networks featured the comments of pro-CAFE standard experts by a margin of 6-to-1 over skeptics... [snip]
ABC's Jake Tapper did say increased CAFÉ standards would bring added costs for consumers."This will mean the cars will cost more to manufacture and therefore to buy - an average of $1,300 a car more by 2016," ... "But the president said that cost would be more than made up for by savings at pump."
However, Nick Loris explained on The Heritage Foundation's blog that these cost-savings in the name of bettering the environment are a fallacy.
"Although touted as a measure to curb global warming, fuel efficiency standards have very little environmental impact. Newer vehicles with better efficiency standards may emit less carbon dioxide per mile, but increased fuel efficiency often leads to more driving and new cars ‘constitute a miniscule source of overall carbon dioxide emissions.'"
"But will the cars be as safe? That's an open question for automakers, if they're being given enough time to meet these requirements. In the late '70s, the U.S. pushed for better fuel efficiency very quickly. The result: Cars like the Chevy Vega and Ford Pinto."
An editorial in the May 20 Wall Street Journal also mocked this government-mandated path to prosperity by pointing out that this is folly even by the standards of traditional socialists.
"The auto industry is in full-fledged collapse, and what does Washington decide to do? We're going to put in some new CAFE standards on it - to fight global warming or whatever they're calling it these days," ... "The government isn't content with just firing car company's CEOs and then slashing advertising budgets. It's now telling the American people that they need to spend between $1,300 and $7,000 extra [that's you truck drivers] to drive a car that is likely to be less safe."
"We wish these folks luck ‘working together' with the Obama auto-design team. One thing seems certain by 2016: Taxpayers will be paying Detroit to make the cars Americans don't want, and then they will pay again either through (trust us) a gas tax or with a purchase subsidy. Even the French must think we're nuts."[That stung.]
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