Greenhouse Gas Rules: A Literal Dead End for California SUV Owners

Proposed CARB Rules Would Cause Deaths and Injuries, Loss of Freedoms

SACRAMENTO, Calif., July 7 -- In public comments today, SUV Owners of America warned of dire consequences from proposed regulations to implement Assembly Bill 1493, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, particularly Carbon Dioxide (CO2) from new vehicles.

SUVOA notes that because there is no technological fix for reducing CO2 other than burning less fuel, the regulations being developed by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) inherently must center in mandated substantial jumps in fuel economy.

"Better gas mileage may sound great at first, but there is no such thing as a free lunch: Study after study shows that fuel economy increases have serious even deadly side effects," commented Ron DeFore, SUVOA communications director, speaking on behalf of 3.1 million SUV owners in California and 22,000 registered supporters of SUVOA.

A 2001 National Academy of Sciences report on automotive fuel economy regulation confirmed that downweighting and downsizing of vehicles during the 1970s and early 1980s likely resulted in an additional 1,300 to 2,600 deaths in 1993. Other studies by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), the Brookings Institution, and the Harvard Injury Control Center confirm the grisly toll of mandated fuel economy boosts. In 1999, an in-depth analysis by USA Today used NHTSA and IIHS data and estimates to conclude that for ALL the years that federal fuel economy standards have been in effect, nearly 50,000 US lives were lost -- more than died in the Vietnam War.

Beyond literally trading blood for oil, government-forced fuel economy increases have serious tradeoffs in performance and utility that clearly have been rejected by the public. Alternatively, they mean staggering sticker shock because of expensive technologies and materials. An earlier NAS study estimated that even a modest MPG improvement of five to seven miles per gallon could add as much as $2,750 to the price of a new vehicle.

SUVOA urges CARB to be honest with the public: "If CARB rules force SUVs and other vehicles to be downsized, CARB owes it to the public to clearly disclose the deadly side effects," DeFore said. "On the other hand, if CARB rules force major price hikes, new vehicle window stickers should feature the 'CARB Tax' detailing the cost to consumers."

In light of the proposed regulation's severely negative consequences and their scantily demonstrated benefit to the climate of California and the earth, SUVOA urges CARB, Governor Schwarzenegger and the Legislature to reconsider this course.

  A more detailed statement is at http://www.suvoa.com/.

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SUVOA is a non-profit organization dedicated to defending the rights of SUV owners.