CAFE Standards. During consideration of the omnibus energy bill (H.R. 4), Rep. Sherwood Boehiert (R-N.Y.) offered an amendment to raise the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. Under the current standards, a manufacturer’s car fleet must average 27.5 miles per gallon (mpg), and its light trucks — including SUVs and minivans — must average 20.7 mpg. Boehlert’s amendment would have required that a manufacturer’s combined fleet of cars and light trucks must average 26 mpg for model years 2005 and 2006 and 27.5 mpg for model year 2007 and beyond. Better fuel efficiency can be achieved through improved technology — or through smaller and lighter (and more dangerous!) vehicles.
The House rejected the Boehlert amendment on August 1, 2001 by a vote of 160 to 269 (Roll Call 311). We have assigned pluses to the nays.
