Politics v. Science/Security

The New York Times reports in Thursday editions that the EPA "made an 11th-hour decision Tuesday to delay the planned release of an annual report on fuel economy" until next week. The decision comes just days before the House and Senate are prepared to vote on final passage of what is supposed to be a comprehensive energy bill - but which contains no provision for increasing average fuel efficiency standards.

A copy of the withheld report was received by the Times, and reporter Danny Hakim writes that it "show[s] that loopholes in American fuel economy regulations have allowed automakers to produce cars and trucks that are significantly less fuel-efficient, on average, than they were in the late 1980s." Hakim says that the executive summary of the report draws the important conclusion that "fuel economy is directly related to energy security," and that trends indicate automakers have not taken steps to improve fuel efficiency in the vehicles they produce.

The EPA insists that withholding the report has nothing to do with the upcoming debate in Congress over final passage of the energy bill, saying through a spokesperson "We are committed to sharing our scientific studies with the public in the most comprehensive and understandable format possible. Issue experts are reviewing the fuel economy data and we look forward to providing a summary of the information next week." After the energy bill debate is completed and proponents of increasing fuel efficency standards won't be able to use the report to their advantage. Slick.

I have been a proponent of increasing fuel efficiency standards for a long time. I firmly believe that with all the ingenuity and know-how that goes into improving car designs every day, auto-makers ought to be able to come up with a way to increase fuel efficiency while refusing to compromise on safety (the typical argument of those opposing efficiency increases is that people will drive smaller cars and there will be more deaths from car accidents). A modest increase in average fuel efficiency standards, coupled with the enactment of basic standards for SUVs and light trucks, would go far in decreasing America's dependence on foreign oil, thereby exponentially increasing the security of the American people as well as the improving the quality of our environment.

The withholding of this report by the EPA smacks of political calculation. It is most unfortunate that analysis from career scientists seems to have fallen victim to an Administration so bent on doing nothing to improve fuel efficiency that it will take drastic measures to prevent findings contrary to its views from being released ... at least until after a moment where they could do any good has come and gone.