"It's like saying, 'I'm a big old fat guy, and food prices have dropped — it's time to start eating again,' "
I drive a 4-cyl SUV, which gets about 32-34 mpg under most conditions. It’s great for me because of my commute. And it’s affordable for my fuel budget. That’s a conscious decision I made based on my personal situation. I’d much rather have a nice pickup though, like we did when I was a kid. It does not mean, though, that I am in favor of moving to lower the federal fuel-economy standards. That leap of logic just does not compute to this middle-aged dude.
Unfortunately, our current administration seems to think that lowering the standards is a splendid idea. According to them, “Conserving oil is no longer an economic imperative for the U.S.” Even under the oil-infused administration of W, this was not so blatantly discussed out in the open. Heck, W even signed the Lightbulb Law.
For this current administration though, the spigot must stay flowing freely. The Department of Energy is once again giving Interior a run for its $$ as the dumbest cabinet-level agency seen right now when it recently announced a move to relax fuel economy standards, noting that increased production of oil was more than enough reason to say, “nope, let’s reverse course”.
Shockingly, the American Petroleum Institute agreed: “Surging U.S. and gas production has brought on "energy security and abundance," Frank Macchiarola, a group director of the American Petroleum Institute trade association, told reporters this week, in a telephone call dedicated to urging scrapping or overhauling of one U.S. program for biofuels.”
Oh, and puh-lease, just give up on the EVs already, will you people?
Bill Wehrum, assistant administration of the EPA's Office of Air and Radiation, spoke dismissively of electric cars — a young industry supported financially by the federal government and many states — this month in a call with reporters announcing the mileage freeze proposal. "People just don't want to buy them," the EPA official said.
I can tell you why I cannot buy one. It’s not because of there being no charging hookup in our home. I can do that myself. In states with a wide geography like Minnesota, a notable lack of charging has its impact. Amongst other factors. As for me, our household would love to have one EV and one pickup. Balance. And right now, we simply cannot do that. Yet.
As for that pesky oil situation, with the current cast of characters in place, can we really see much change in the immediate future? Nyet.
Consumers by their nature are price-driven. Just wait though, because we all know who will benefit from increased demand, which will drive up oil prices and line certain people’s pockets. Those rubles will feel great in Vlad’s jeans I bet…
[Full disclosure — I’m not an oil market analyst, nor an expert on the automotive industry. I’m just an average guy whose memory is long enough to recall the oil crisis of the early 70s, the price shocks of the early 80s (just in time for me to get my driver’s license), and $4/gallon gas a decade ago.]