Often in the policy debates on government regulations, you will have free-market people decrying inefficient impediments to business, while the other side will tout the (alleged) benefits to the environment or whatever the social goal happens to be. Yet a new MIT study—from a group that is very sympathetic to carbon regulatory policies—documents how inefficient [...]
Cass Sunstein’s Garbage In, Garbage Out on Cost/Benefit Analysis
In a recent NYT op ed, Harvard Law professor and former Obama official Cass Sunstein cited Ronald Reagan, of all figures, as inspiration for more federal regulation on the transportation and energy sectors. Sunstein’s angle was to say that Reagan endorsed the cost/benefit analysis arguing for the US agreement to fight the “ozone hole,” [...]
December 4, 2012 | Bus Tour, Corporate Average Fuel Economy, Emissions Standards, Greenhouse Gases, News
David Kreutzer on EPA and Oil Externalities
Sometimes in their zeal to exaggerate the “social benefits” of one of its programs, the number-crunchers at government agencies will stoop to absurd arguments that end up coming back to bite them. The Heritage Foundation’s David Kreutzer recently caught a great example of this, concerning the NHTSA’s and EPA’s analysis [pdf] of its new [...]
October 9, 2012 | Corporate Average Fuel Economy, News, Threats
Low Carbon Fuel Standards Will Raise Fuel Prices
Recognizing that American motorists will reject any policies that raise fuel prices, the people pushing new regulations on the energy sector are trying to have their cake and eat it too. For example, a new report [.pdf] claims that a national Low Carbon Fuel Standard would not only reduce carbon dioxide emissions, but it [...]
July 19, 2012 | Corporate Average Fuel Economy, Emissions Standards, News, Renewable Fuel Standard, Threats
The Flawed BlueGreen Alliance Report on CAFE Standards
The BlueGreen Alliance has released a new study arguing that tighter fuel economy standards on cars and light trucks will not only mitigate climate change, but will also create jobs. As with most studies in the “green jobs” literature, this one too rests on faulty economic analysis. The federal government doesn’t do consumers any [...]
June 28, 2012 | Corporate Average Fuel Economy, News, Threats
Ethanol Hasn’t Made Gasoline Cheaper
The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) is touting a new study claiming that ethanol reduced gasoline prices by more than a dollar per gallon in 2011. As with similar studies in the past, the methodology used here to calculate this number rests on a basic fallacy in how they frame the question, which we’ll explain below. [...]
May 24, 2012 | Corporate Average Fuel Economy, Facts, News, Renewable Fuel Standard, Threats
Nothing Convenient About RFS
A recent study by the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) found that two most prominent regulations affecting fuel use in the United States—the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards—have competing requirements that will have a negative impact on the more than 120,000 convenience stores that sell motor [...]
May 22, 2012 | Corporate Average Fuel Economy, Facts, News, Renewable Fuel Standard
Second Thoughts on Electric Vehicles
One of the problems with making purchases based on “the greater good”—as opposed to the direct benefits and costs—is that your estimate might turn out wrong. For example, many people simply assumed that electric vehicles were “good for the environment” and so were willing to spend more, and put up with more hassles, thinking [...]
May 10, 2012 | Corporate Average Fuel Economy, Facts, News
Parsing Obama’s Remarks on Fuel Standards
In July 2011, President Obama announced yet another federal intervention into the economy: increased fuel-efficiency mandates for vehicles. Although his speech was jocular and peppered with humor, it was also filled with very misleading “facts” about energy markets. In the present piece I’ll address some of the biggest whoppers. The President Agrees: Rising Oil Prices Are [...]
May 8, 2012 | Corporate Average Fuel Economy, Facts, News, Renewable Fuel Standard
Breaking Down EPA’s Light-Duty GHG Emission Standards
On February 13, 2012, IER submitted its comment on EPA’s proposed light-duty truck greenhouse gas emissions standards. As we will see, even relying on the EPA’s own analysis shows just how absurd federal intervention into energy markets has become. The debate would be funny, if it didn’t have such serious consequences in terms of economic welfare and indeed [...]
May 2, 2012 | Corporate Average Fuel Economy, News
