The
Bush administration today proposed new fuel economy standards that fail
to protect American consumers from skyrocketing prices at the pump,
even as oil prices hit record levels.
“Instead
of harnessing America’s technological know-how to require light trucks
and autos to meet at 40 mile per gallon (mpg) average standard, the
Administration has proposed a pathetically weak increase in light truck
miles per gallon standards and has given automakers an increased
opportunity to game the system by increasing the size of their SUVs and
other light trucks,” said Diane E. Brown, Executive Director for the
Arizona Public Interest Research Group (Arizona PIRG).
“Today,
the Bush Administration has told the Big Three automakers that they are
virtually off the hook when it comes to delivering light trucks that
will go further on a gallon of gasoline,” Brown stated.
Arizona PIRG’s report “America Idles”
documented that American consumers will already spend $5 billion more
at the gas pump than they should have to because of shortsighted
automobile fuel economy policies.
