Greg Gerber posted on August 06, 2008 18:35
WASHINGTON -- Some Americans just can’t live without their trucks.
Earlier this week, The Wall Street Journal reported on how Ford Motor Co. and other auto makers are lobbying the Bush administration to scale back a proposal to boost automobile fuel-economy standards. The aim is for milder fuel-economy standards for vehicles with extra towing capacity. The thing is, Detroit isn’t alone — a number of lawmakers from truck-friendly states are helping the companies’ lobbying push.
In a June 30 letter to the Transportation Department, five U.S. senators urged the Bush administration to keep towing capability in mind. It’s almost like the “light truck” loophole in fuel-economy standards a generation ago, aimed at easing economic pain for small businessmen — if jet skis can be considered a fundamental part of the U.S. economy.
The senators want the administration “to maintain the ability of families to tow livestock, equipment trailers, recreation vehicle trailers, boats, snowmobiles, jet skis and other such items.” The senators – Republicans Mike Crapo of Idaho and George Voinovich of Ohio, and Democrats Ron Wyden of Oregon, and Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow, both of Michigan — want the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to consider an “adjusted target level” for vehicles that can tow big loads.
Not all auto makers support this idea. Toyota Motor Corp. figures the plan would just amount to passing the buck. Toyota told regulators in its own filing, also dated June 30, that considering towing capacity would lead the agency “to try and ‘recover’ lost fuel savings” by increasing the target levels for other vehicles.
“Thus, NHTSA would be reentering an arena where it hoped to exit from – the issue of CAFE [corporate average fuel economy] as a competitive issue among manufacturers,” Toyota’s letter states. The proposed standards are currently based on a vehicle’s “footprint” - essentially the number of square feet a vehicle covers when parked - with smaller vehicles having to meet more stringent standards than larger vehicles.
SOURCE: Wall Street Journal