"Commentary"-The New Fuel Efficiency Standards
Tuesday, July 10, 2007SUSIE GHARIB: Tonight's commentator says, when it comes to the recently passed increase in auto fuel economy standards, "more" is definitely "less." Andrew Zolli, founder of Z + Partners, explains.
ANDREW ZOLLI, FUTURIST & FOUNDER, Z + PARTNERS: Congress has finally taken up the decades-overdue task of raising automotive fuel efficiency standards. But you would be excused for thinking they were trying to pass a law requiring un-anaesthetized dentistry.
After howling that increased standards would cause economic ruin, destroy consumer choice, and even spur mass casualties on America's highways, U.S. automakers begrudgingly endorsed a minimal increase. The recently-passed Senate bill would require autos to get just 10 more miles to the gallon by 2020.
Unfortunately, this modest compromise is likely to accelerate Detroit's demise rather than prevent it, not because the increased standards are too strong, but because they're far too weak. In the carbon-constrained global economy of the coming decades, countries around the world are going to be forced to seriously rethink their transportation infrastructure. In that world, the 12-miles-to-the-gallon SUVs, which are Detroit's bread-and- butter, will quickly go the way of the liquefied dinosaurs that propel them down the road.
We shouldn't let Detroit cling to its own obsolescence. By doubling or tripling the proposed standard, Congress would get a "three-fer": They would further reduce America's contributions to global warming; unlock a new wave of technological innovation; and ensure Detroit another century of global preeminence. That's a deal we can all live with.
I'm Andrew Zolli.
