Escalating gas prices are rekindling a 20-year-old debate between local environmentalists and automakers. “Fuel efficiency of cars should be double what it is currently,” said Brad Heavner, state director of the Maryland Public Interest Group (MaryPIRG), a nonprofit environmental advocacy group.
Heavner said MaryPIRG has been fighting for higher federal mandatory fuel efficiency standards for years to no avail.
“The automobile lobbies have been pouring a lot of resources into blocking higher mileage standards,” he said.
MaryPIRG believes the standard should be at least 40 miles per gallon for all new cars. It also rejects the argument that the technology to achieve higher levels is out of reach.
“The National Academy of Science says most vehicles should be able to average 40 miles per gallon within eight years,” said Heavner.
This is a fallacious argument, said Eron Shosteck, a spokesman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a Washington, D.C.-based association that represents DaimlerChrysler, Ford Motor Co. and General Motors.
Automakers are already producing cars offering more than 40 mpg, but consumers are not showing much interest in them, Shosteck said.
“It?s not feasible because these kind of vehicles don?t have the cargo space and other features consumers demand,” he added.
Shosteck also bristled at the suggestion that that the federal government has been lax in imposing its fuel efficiency standards.
“MPG requirements have risen for seven consecutive years,” Shosteck said.
He added that if higher standards were suddenly imposed on automakers, a loss of jobs could result.
“They would be forced to cut their costs,” he said.
The impasse between environmentalists and automakers makes stepping up the completion of long-term mass transit projects a must, according to MaryPIRG.
Improving mass transit is particularly important with the prospect of thousands of new jobs and commuters coming to the greater Baltimore region over the next 10 years because of military base realignments, said Gene Bracken, a spokesman for the Greater Baltimore Committee.
Overcrowded roads are one reason the organization has strongly supported federal and state funding for the Baltimore Regional Rail Plan.
Elements of the plan could be in place within 10 years, but completion could take 30 to 40 years.
“When completed, this plan would fully integrate existing light and heavy rail, giving commuters an alternative to driving their cars,” Bracken said.
While alternative fuel sources such as ethanol and fuel cells are bandied about as possible solutions for rising gas prices, experts say they offer no quick fix. Tomorrow, we?ll explore the reason why.
Slated for upgrades
State funding for mass transit capital improvements over the next five years:
» $155 million for maintenance projects
» $88 million for the purchase of replacement buses
» $29 million in track improvements for the MARC commuter rail system
Source: Greater Baltimore Committee
