SUVs Would Have to Improve Gas Mileage Under Bush Plan

The Bush administration on Thursday proposed a slight increase in fuel economy ratings for sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks, the first change in fuel economy standards in six years.

The initiative, which likely will be made final by April, would increase by 1.5 miles per gallon the fuel economy standards for SUVs, vans, minivans and pickup trucks.

The increased fuel economy would come in three annual stages of 0.3 mpg, 0.6 mpg and 0.6 mpg, consecutively, starting in 2005.

It could save about 2.5 billion gallons of gasoline a year and aid the environment, according to Transportation Department officials.

“The Bush administration is committed to improving fuel economy while protecting passenger safety and American jobs,” said Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta.

Manufacturers can be fined if the average fuel economy of their entire line of vehicles sold does not meet the government’s “corporate average fuel economy” standards.

The current standard for SUVs, vans and light trucks is 20.7 mpg; it would increase to 22.2 mpg by the 2007 model year under this proposal. The passenger-car standard of 27.5 mpg remains unchanged.

Interested parties now have 60 days to comment on the proposal.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is required by law to set the toughest standard that is both economically and technologically feasible.

Before setting the standard, officials gather information from manufacturers about their plans for the relevant model years. They also do their own analysis of what would be achievable, officials said.

The action came after Congress failed to give any direction to the administration on the topic after heatedly debating the issue while considering energy legislation.

Nonetheless, some Democrats blasted the administration’s effort as too modest.

They said it misses an important chance to reduce dependence on foreign fuel and reduce the country’s contribution to global warming.

Cars and light trucks combined produce about one-fifth of U.S. carbon-dioxide emissions, which most scientists believe play a major role in global warming.

“This is an insult,” said Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.). “The administration is merely ratifying less than what industry is already doing on its own without challenge or incentive.”

A proposal by Kerry and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to require the government to raise the corporate average fuel economy standard for passenger cars and light trucks to 36 mpg by 2015 was defeated earlier this year. Kerry, who is considering a run for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004, accused the White House of failing to confront the reality of America’s weakness because of its dependence on foreign oil.

“I think Americans deserve more than another sham White House effort to pretend to act in the interests of energy security,” Kerry said.

Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) said he would work in the next Congress to increase the standard.

“This proposed increase in fuel economy for SUVs doesn’t even come close to what could be achieved using technologies that are already available,” he said. “This scheme is absolutely irresponsible and will do next to nothing to reduce our dependence on Middle Eastern oil.”

The auto makers, however, said the proposal represents a significant change.

It will present varying degrees of challenge to manufacturers.

For producers such as Honda that focus on smaller vehicles, the standard will not be much of a stretch. But for those with fleets dominated by larger vehicles, the proposal will be more of a hurdle.

“It’s going to be a considerable challenge,” said Eron Shosteck, a spokesman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, which represents 12 companies responsible for 90% of the vehicle sales in the United States.

The problem facing auto makers is that consumers favor the bigger vehicles with more options -- such as larger cargo holds -- that end up using more fuel.

“Only the cars that are sold count” toward the corporate average fuel economy standard, Shosteck said. “Consumers are in the driver’s seat.”

As SUVs and other light trucks have gained in popularity, overall passenger fuel economy has declined. Passenger vehicles use about 40% of the 19 million barrels of oil consumed nationwide each day.

Like most industries, Shosteck said, manufacturers respond to what consumers want.

While criticizing the initiative as too weak, some environmentalists said it represents a small step in the right direction after a stalemate on the issue since 1996, when Congress imposed a freeze on the federal fuel economy requirements on manufacturers.

“First, its timetable recognizes that beneficial design changes are available to improve efficiency without delay. Also, by targeting light trucks, it focuses on the most important part of the fuel consumption problem. Finally, the proposal validates the [corporate average fuel economy] standard as a valuable tool, in spite of U.S. auto makers’ misleading campaigns against it,” said John DeCicco, a senior fellow and automotive specialist at Environmental Defense, a national environmental group.