CAFE and Climate Change: Nada
I tried to make the point earlier today that the idea that the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade plan can be justified by avoided harms from global warming is comically irrational from the point of view of a typical U.S. citizen.
Similarly, the White House has trumpeted the fact that the proposed changes to the CAFE mileage standards will result in “a reduction of approximately 900 million metric tons in greenhouse gas emissions.” 900 million is a big number in daily life, but it turns out, not so big when it comes to the emissions of the United States.
Keith Hennessey points to Department of Transportation analysis that projects (using the same climate model as I referenced in my Waxman-Markey post) that the impact of moving to these new mileage regulations should be that in the year 2100 temperatures should be 0.007C less than they otherwise would be, and sea levels should be 0.06 centimeters less than they otherwise would be. In other words, these standards will have no conceivably appreciable effect on global warming impacts.
I would like to say that advocates of these various restrictions on the use of imperfect sources of energy that have the small advantage of actually exiting now need to stop lazily waving to “climate change” and telling scary stories as a justification, and start engaging on the actual numbers, but this almost certainly is not true. They have the votes to do these things, for now, and the Right is politcially discredited, for now.
This is a terrible law. I frequently here people complain about how American automakers screwed themselves by building “gas-guzzlers” when foreign automakers were building smaller cars that Americans supposedly prefer. Never is it brought up that CAFE, which does not apply to imports, makes it cheaper to produce light trucks, because of less stringent regulation. The law doesn’t apply to imports, because lawmakers were afraid domestic manufacturers would import their cars manufactured in Europe that already met tougher standards. The result is textbook economics. American firms had a comparative advantage in pickups and SUVs while foreigners specialized in smaller vehicles. High gas prices and greener preferences shifted demand in favour of smaller vehicles favouring the Europeans and Japanese.
Yet no one blames CAFE at all for the downfall of the American auto industry. Instead fingers are pointed at the greedy and incompetent CEOs who built cars Americans didn’t want, or at unions who bled these firms dry. What we are left with is more government interference. How much of a chance do you give Chrysler when it’s owned by three different governments and a union? Good night.
— Kailer · May 22, 08:40 PM · #
Look, we all know that affordable electricity is an essential part of protecting consumers and American businesses. During the America’s Power Factuality Tour, our team traveled all over the country to document the places, people and technologies involved in producing cleaner electricity from domestic coal. We even went to Council Bluffs, Iowa, home of the Walter Scott Energy Center – one of the most efficient coal-based plants in America. This facility generates more than 1,600 megawatts of affordable electricity, which has a positive long-term economic impact on the region—one that includes a Google data facility.
<a href=“http://sn.im/factuality”>Take a look at the plant</a> and meet the people who keep it running.
— Monica from ACCCE · May 28, 08:13 PM · #