White House Seeks Change in Mileage Measure

[RamboLiberal]

Source: NY Times

The White House has raised last-minute concerns over regulation of automobile emissions and fuel economy that aides said could lead to a presidential veto of the energy bill now before Congress.

The bill, which passed the House and is now pending in the Senate, requires auto makers to meet a fleet average of 35 miles per gallon by 2020, but does not specify which government agency should enforce the new rule.

Primary regulation of mileage standards has historically fallen to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, an arm of the Transportation Department. But vehicle tailpipe emissions are regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency, and a Supreme Court ruling earlier this year affirmed the E.P.A.’s authority to regulate emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from passenger vehicles, which basically would mean regulating their fuel use.

The White House, echoing a position taken by auto manufacturers and a coalition of industry groups, is asking that the energy legislation be changed to specify the highway safety administration as the primary enforcer of fuel efficiency standards, with the E.P.A. in only an advisory role. Democratic leaders in Congress rejected that position as a “nonstarter” and indicated their intent to move the bill with the current language intact.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/12/washington/12cnd-mileage.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

[Harper_is_Bush]

1. What evil bastards. They want the EPA designated so the EPA can't make the fuel economy tougher

at a later date.

Evil sob's.

[Traditional Liberal]

2. Just another example

The Administration is terrified, not that EPA is incompetent and can't do its job.

The Administration is terrified that it can and will do its job if they have the authority to do something useful, when they are no longer in control.

[trogdor]

5. EPA ought to be the ones enforcing it.

Perhaps then we can do away with this ridiculous trend of raising the ground clearance of cars in order to designate them trucks and therefore to dodge CAFE regulations. A pregnant roller-skate with fat tires is not a sports car.

[MaineDem]

3. This WH has always fought against raising mileage standards

I remember about 5 years ago there was a major push to increase the CAFE standards and the White House got the GOP Congress to kill it. They don't want to offend big business.

[Acadia Blue]

4. No suprise. The greedy, money hoarding pig who wants to destroy

this country and impoverish the middle class. If there is a devil, he is it.