Volume CXXXIII, Number 15 February 8, 2002 f

Stop the Killer CAFÉ
TODD BUELL

Some may wonder what Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) is doing now that he has tabled a vote on President Bush's economic stimulus plan and continues to obstruct numerous presidential nominees. The word in Washington is that he's ordering another café, except this café doesn't come with milk or sugar. It comes the way Democrats like it, as a tax that will damage the economy and has been shown to result in nearly 2,000 deaths a year.

What tax am I talking about? Its name seems so benign; it doesn't even include the word 'tax.' However, don't be fooled. According to the Americans for Tax Reform and the Small Business Survival Committee, this regulation will increase the cost of SUVs, minivans, and pickup trucks by up to $2,750.

The proposed change to Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFÉ) will increase will increase the miles per gallon (mpg) federally required for minivans, SUVs, and pickup trucks to 40. The plan's defenders argue that by raising the prices on these "gas guzzling" cars, we are protecting the environment. However, as a panel discussion at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) pointed out, the logic of the bill is flawed and will result in numerous negative consequences both to jobs and auto safety.

For one thing, there is no guarantee that these regulations will reduce fossil fuel consumption. Congress first enacted these CAFÉ measures in the 1970s, but fossil fuel use has increased since then. One reason for this steady increase in consumption is the decrease in real gas price over the last twenty years. A basic understanding of economics dictates that a price reduction in a high-demand market is usually a consequence of surplus. In plain English, that means we're not running out of oil any time soon.
The regulation may not even be helping the environment. As Frontiers of Freedom President George C. Landrith points out on his organization's website, consumers hold onto older, less-efficient cars for a longer period of time. Therefore, the high cost of new cars probably does not have the beneficial effects that some environmentalists think it does.

Thus we are left with a regulation making tenuous environmental claims and with widely recorded consequences in auto safety. As more people buy bigger cars, those who drive smaller cars are placed in more danger. USA Today published an article in 1998 that showed that 46,000 people had died as a result of driving in a small car that collided with a bigger car since the first CAFÉ standard went into effect in 1975.

Despite numerous claims that SUVs are not safe, government studies show that these claims are greatly exaggerated. Half of all car crashes are single-car accidents. The same studies show that one is much safer in an SUV during a single car crash than in a smaller car. The evidence is inconclusive when it comes to multi-car collisions.

Although it is irresponsible to suggest that a revocation of CAFÉ would have saved those lives, the statistics prove that there is a safety advantage to having a big car. It is flagrantly hypocritical of populist liberals such as Tom Daschle and John Kerry (D-MA) to claim they are supporting the middle and lower classes while opposing Bush's tax cut, then making it harder for people of low means to purchase safe vehicles.

Not only will increased CAFÉ standards make cars more expensive, but the United Auto Workers Union (not known for its conservative activism), argues that the cost of compliance will result in the loss of 100,000 jobs in the auto industry. This is not the sort of stimulus our economy needs as it slowly works its way out of a recession.

There is no doubt that energy conservation is important. However, CAFÉ regulations have not done anything to solve the problem. We are more dependent on foreign oil than we were 25 years ago and the economic success of the 1980s and 1990s resulted in people buying more cars. The only effect CAFÉ has had on our society is in the death of innocent drivers who could not afford bigger, safer automobiles.

Eventually, gas prices will go up, and auto manufacturers will respond by using renewable energy sources. Until that happens, why compromise the safety of the average American and damage the economy through lost jobs? It seems now that if Daschle gets his way with fiscal policy and CAFÉ, there will be more stimulants in his morning Starbucks visit than in our economy.