Wait, you mean American fuel economy might catch up with the rest of the world?
A federal appeals court ruled the Bush administration's fuel-economy standards for light trucks are too lax, a setback for the auto industry and White House efforts to address political concerns over oil consumption and global warming.(Digg-enabled reading of complete article available here)
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco rejected new fuel-economy rules from the administration for sport-utility vehicles, minivans and pickup trucks sold starting next year. The ruling sided with environmental groups and 13 states and cities that argued the new rules, though more stringent than current standards, still won't do enough to curb oil consumption or emissions of carbon dioxide, a global-warming gas.
[snip]
The ruling also represents a political setback for the White House at a time of $3-a-gallon gasoline and mounting public concern about global warming. Bush administration officials often have noted that they have done more to toughen federal auto-mileage standards than preceding administrations, Democrat or Republican. Now, going into an election year in which energy is sure to be a hot-button issue, a federal court has ruled the administration hasn't gone far enough.
There is no assurance that the auto industry would find a friendlier hearing in higher courts. This spring, the Supreme Court ruled that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are air pollutants under federal environmental law and that the Bush administration acted illegally in refusing to limit emissions of those gases. As a result of that ruling, the administration now is developing new fuel-economy rules to take effect further down the road.
[snip]
The appeals court cited several reasons for rejecting the Bush administration's pending fuel-economy rule. In addition to failing to take into account the "value" of reduced greenhouse-gas emissions, the court said, the pending rule maintains the "SUV loophole" -- holding SUVs and other light trucks to a less-stringent fuel-economy standard than cars -- and fails to regulate the fuel economy of most larger pickup trucks whose gross vehicle weight is between 8,500 pounds and 10,000 pounds.
Environmentalists praised yesterday's court ruling. It "may not dramatically change the next couple of years of fuel-economy standards, but I think it clearly will have an effect on how fuel-economy standards and greenhouse-gas standards are set by this administration for a long time to come," said David Friedman, of the Union of Concerned Scientists, an environmental group.
[From Court Rejects Bush's Fuel-Economy Plan]
