Copyright 2002 Times Publishing Company  
St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
November 16, 2002 Saturday 0 South Pinellas Edition
SECTION: EDITORIAL; Pg. 10A

LENGTH: 390 words

HEADLINE: More fuel-efficiency is needed

BODY:
Americans are getting a confusing message on automobile mileage. "By driving a more fuel-efficient vehicle, a vehicle powered by alternative fuels, or even by driving our current vehicles more efficiently, we can all do our part to reduce our nation's reliance on imported oil and strengthen our energy security," Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham recently announced.

Good advice. But Abraham chose an odd occasion to make his appeal. He and Environmental Protection Agency chief Christie Whitman were announcing the mileage figures for 2003 cars and passenger trucks. The average of 20.8 MPG continued a downward trend on fuel efficiency that has continued for the past decade and a half.

In fact, the percentage of cars getting more than 30 MPG declined in the new model year to only 4 percent of cars, down from 6 percent last year. So it is even more difficult for American drivers to heed Abraham's call to conserve.

If President Bush, who is Abraham's boss, or Congress really wanted to lessen our dependence on foreign oil, they would have embraced tougher mileage requirements. Yet, Vice President Dick Cheney set the tone for the administration by scorning energy conservation. Congress also backed away from more stringent Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards, which have been frozen since 1994. Even pro-environment Democrats played along with the makers of gas-guzzling SUVs when the United Auto Workers union opposed improved fuel efficiency, arguing it would cost jobs (and union members).

Improving mileage isn't that difficult. "We could be averaging close to 30 to 40 miles per gallon, and that's with conventional technology: nonhybrids, better engines, better transmission, improved aerodynamics," said David Friedman, a senior analyst with the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Instead, our wasteful ways complicate foreign policy in the Middle East, whose oil fuels not only our cars but also repressive regimes and terrorism. Soon enough, American soldiers could be in harm's way in the region. Rather than winking at the decline in fuel efficiency, our leaders should set about reversing the troubling trend.

The president and congressional leaders should require automakers to improve CAFE standards. They also should call on Americans to share the sacrifices that lie ahead. We are likely to respond.

LOAD-DATE: November 16, 2002