The Fuel Economy

After years of rising enthusiasm for heavier, 'performance-rich' cars, the US motorist is more of a 'pump guzzler' than ever. What a surprise! Maybe some of the 'internet conspiracy theorists' would have done better to look into why the Bush administration appears to find it easier to front-up Saddam Hussein than to confront an overheated American car owner suffering 'road rage'.

The average fuel economy of the nation's cars and trucks fell to its lowest level in 22 years in the 2002 model year, the Environmental Protection Agency reported today.The technological and engineering leaps of the last two decades have been poured into everything but fuel economy, according to the agency's statistics. Since 1981, the average vehicle has 93 percent more horsepower and is 29 percent faster in going from 0 to 60 miles an hour. It is also 24 percent heavier, reflecting surging sales of sport utility vehicles. But over the same period, fuel economy has stagnated, contributing heavily to the nation's rising oil consumption. Cars and light trucks — S.U.V.'s, pickups and minivans — account for about 40 percent of the nation's oil consumption and a fifth of its carbon dioxide emissions, which many scientists see as the leading contributor to global warming. Environmentalists, frustrated by years of legislative defeats and a recent retreat by the Ford Motor Company on a pledge that it would improve the fuel economy of its S.U.V.'s, were further exasperated by the report. "Without being forced to improve fuel economy by the government, the auto industry doesn't do it," said Daniel Becker, the top global warming expert for the Sierra Club. "Congress has to require energy savings in the energy bill that comes to the floor next week or the auto industry will continue to go in reverse." The report also said that fuel economy could have improved 33 percent since 1981 if performance and weight of vehicles had been held constant.
Source: New York Times
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