Washington, D.C.— The Senate debate on better fuel economy is just around the bend in June, so the auto companies once again have jump-started their aging anti-fuel economy scare campaign. This effort hopes to convince public officials to speed by families’ worries about rising gas prices and global warming. Unfortunately, the auto industries’ rhetoric is on “E” for “empty.”
Two-thirds of Americans want to raise mileage standards to 40 miles per gallon even if “critics say it would produce smaller and more expensive cars.”1 They know that we need energy independence to stop global warming, and cleaner cars and fuels will help drive the solution. Congress should not yield to auto companies’ tired misstatements. Instead, it should reassert American leadership by relying on our ingenuity and optimism to adopt the most advanced mileage standards possible.
Daniel J. Weiss is a Senior Fellow and Director of Climate Strategy for the Center for American Progress.
1 Center for American Progress poll by GreenbergQuinlanRosner, April 18, 2007. http://americanprogress.org/issues/2007/04/environment_poll.html