Reason Writers Around Town: Shikha Dalmia on Obama's New CAFE Standards for Cars
The Obama administration "saved" the auto industry from natural market forces by giving it close to $100 billion in bailout money, but only so that it could kill it itself. How else to explain the administration's recent proposal to raise CAFE standards on the auto industry to 56 miles per gallon by 2025, something that no car—regular or hybrid—currently comes close to delivering (with the exception of electrics)? "These standards are the regulatory equivalent of a bunker buster that will decimate the industry," notes Reason Foundation Senior Analyst Shikha Dalmia in her latest column at The Daily. They will set the stage for bailouts bigger than anything that we have seen thus far. And, to add insult to injury, Dalmia notes:
The president is trying to impose the new standards through regulatory fiat without Congressional approval. No administration—blue or red—has ever done this before. This is tantamount to declaring war on autos without a formal declaration from Congress.