The Sad CAFE
The Obama administration’s proposed mileage standards that will be announced today may kill more Americans at a faster rate than the Iraq War, his signature issue in the 2008 presidential campaign.
Obama’s standards will require automakers to meet a 35 miles-per-gallon standard by 2016, four years earlier than the same standard imposed by the Energy Security and Independence Act of 2007.
The only way for carmakers to meet these standard is to make smaller, lighter — and deadlier cars.
The National Academy of Sciences has linked mileage standards with about 2,000 deaths per year. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that every 100-pound reduction in the weight of small cars increases annual traffic fatalities by as much as 715.