One of the hottest topics in the automotive industry today is the Senate’s proposed CAFE energy bill that would see light truck an car economy improve by 40% — to 35 mpg — by 2020. Although the bill has seemed to be gaining momentum since the Senate passed the bill in a 65-27 vote back in June, the White House gave its opposition — which includes General Motors, Ford , Chrysler , Toyota and the UAW — some hope yesterday.
The White House sent a letter to congressional leaders stating that it would “veto any bill that doesn’t separate fuel economy standards for light trucks and passenger cars.” The Bush Administration is concerned that the estimated $85 billion it would cost to conform to the proposed bill would greatly hurt the economy and may not even be realistic.
According to The Detroit News, Allan Hubbard, director of the White House National Economic Council, says the White House supports the House’s bill — or the Senate’s with some tweaking — that would “reform and strengthen the fuel economy standard for cars, and maintain separate attribute-based standards for cars and trucks, based on sound science, safety and cost-benefit analysis.”
The bill proposed by the House — dubbed “Hill-Terry” after its sponsors, Reps. Baron Hill, D-Ind., and Lee Terry, R-Neb. — calls for a 32 mpg average fuel economy for light trucks and 35 mpg for car by 2022.
