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Editorial: Why higher mileage standards are within reach

 
Published June 19, 2015

Imagine driving a normal car that gets more than 50 miles per gallon. That will be routine in a decade, not because of the free market but because of progressive public policy. The free market solves many problems, linking willing buyers and sellers to get a fair price for both. But government has an important role in regulating some rules of that market, particularly when safety, the environment and long-term goals are concerned.

Years ago, the Environmental Protection Agency set new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, saying that by 2025 automakers' fleets would have to average 54.5 mpg. Carmakers scoffed at the seemingly impossible target. But a report issued last week shows how the goal is within reach and affordable.

Research by an arm of the National Academy of Sciences found that using lighter car and truck bodies, advanced transmissions and smaller but powerful turbocharged engines that shut off at stoplights — in other words, the continued evolution of existing technology — is likely to be enough to meet the ambitious goals. Electric cars and hybrids, of course, would help, but carmakers would not have to force them on unwilling buyers.

The free market plays an important role. People flock toward fuel-sipping vehicles when prices at the pump skyrocket, and they return to cars and trucks that hog more gas when prices drop. But those are short-term reactions. The government's part in the overall trend has been even more important.

Cars are more fuel efficient today because the CAFE standards required them to be, not simply because the market dictated that result. For example, adjusted for inflation, gas cost $3.59 in 1981, far more than today. And yet today's cars are much more fuel efficient without sacrificing performance or comfort. Prodded by government, the private sector found a way.

Even more important, cars are safer and more environmentally friendly because government, not the market, forced change. Government required seat belts, airbags, car seats, antilock brakes and electronic stability control. The result? Cars are safer than ever. Even though Americans drive more than they did 20 years ago, highway fatalities are down by 30 percent.

Government, not the market, ordered that lead be removed from gasoline and that catalytic converters be installed to cut pollution. Cars today burn cleaner and more efficiently than could have been imagined a generation ago. Government, not the market, made this happen.

The free market is good at what it does, but sometimes in areas such as energy consumption, environmental protection and consumer safety it needs a nudge from government to push it in the right direction for the greater good.