Donald Trump isn’t a Libertarian – but he is the guy who just rescinded the fatwa imposed by his extremely un-Libertarian predecessor that would have almost tripled the fines imposed on car companies that didn’t “achieve compliance” with federal fuel economy mandatory minimums.
This is no small thing – because of the other fatwa, still in place. The one which decrees a near-doubling of the average mileage new cars will be required to achieve over the course of the next six years.
Orange Man is working on that one.
Regardless, he just saved you a lot of money – and may just have saved the car industry, too.
At least, for the moment.
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The fines rescinded were the billy stick used to enforce federal Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) regs. These regs stipulate an arbitrary “fleet average” mileage number every car company’s model lineup must meet.
This arbitrarily decreed number – arbitrary because it’s just “decided” upon by federal bureaucrats, at their whim, based upon what they – in their infinite wisdom – consider to be “achievable,” no matter what it costs – has been steadily rising since the late ‘70s, from around 22 miles-per-gallon to the current 30-something miles-per-gallon.
Over the past 30-something years, cars have become more “efficient” as a result of this gradual ratcheting-up of CAFE requirements. They have also become progressively more expensive with each ratcheting up – since it takes technology to “achieve compliance” while also maintaining the attributes car buyers expect, such as the physical size of the vehicle as well as its power/performance/capability.
It is hard to get a car to average 30-something MPG while also being not small and able to get to 60 MPH in less than 8 seconds (most buyers won’t buy a car that can’t do this).
Or carry a family – as opposed to a single driver and perhaps one passenger. And have the power to pull a trailer.
Etc.
People do value gas mileage. Just not gas mileage uber alles – as the un-Libertarians in government insists they do.
If they did value it uber alles, the car companies would not need to be forced – by punishing fines – to build such cars. They would respond to . . . the market for such cars.
