Inhofe and Lankford Criticism of CAFE Fuel Standards Might have Been Accurate

CAFE

Four years after Oklahoma U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe took on the Environmental Protection Agency and its CAFE fuel standards, now there’s a report that maybe, just maybe, the EPA’s fuel efficiency testing might not work.

It was back in 2012 when Sen. Inhofe was critical of the Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards,

“The CAFE standards and all these environmentalist weirdos who are trying to do away with fossil fuels altogether and they put us in a position where we’re not burning the fuel so we’re not getting the revenue,” he told the lobbying group TRUST, Transportation Revenues Used Strictly for Transportation.

Then U.S. Rep. James Lankford, now U.S. Senator joined Inhofe in jumping on the increased fuel standards. He charged that the CAFE has cost the federal government money.

“Every time I see someone advertise an electric vehicle I smile at it and I say that electric vehicle is getting double the subsidies. It’s getting $7,500 from the federal government. It also drives on the road for free behind you’re paying no user fee tax.”

Fast-forward to July 2016 and Wired magazine has a story that the CAFE tests apparently aren’t working as the government claims.

As Wired’s Alex Davies wrote:

“But when it comes to CAFE, the system is bonkers. When the EPA tests for CAFE compliance, it still uses that laughable two-cycle system. It’s got no choice: The 1975 Energy Policy and Conservation Act specifies that “the Administrator shall use the same procedures for passenger automobiles the Administrator used for model year 1975.” In other words: When it comes to enforcing the only law the demands cars get better for consumers’ wallets and lungs, the EPA tests like your grandfather.”