obama makes emissions and milage standards

All the news that's fit to shift.
Post Reply
User avatar
wannabe
Master Standardshifter
Posts: 8113
Joined: Tue May 15, 2007 11:48 am
Cars: NONE - take the bus
Location: Grand Rapids, MI
Contact:

obama makes emissions and milage standards

Post by wannabe »

2003 Chrysler town and country

Crafting and stuff
User avatar
theholycow
Master Standardshifter
Posts: 16021
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2008 1:36 pm
Cars: '80 Buick LeSabre 4.1 5MT
Location: Glocester, RI
Contact:

Re: obama makes emissions and milage standards

Post by theholycow »

The MPG numbers quoted in the article are CAFE MPG ratings, not the EPA ratings that are presented to the consumer. CAFE ratings are far higher than what you see on the window sticker. So, it sounds more scary than it really is. We're not all going to be forced to give up our cars for Insights.

Current CAFE requirement is 27.5mpg for each manufacturer's car fleet, and less for trucks. 31.6 shouldn't be too difficult. Maybe when they're stuffing more and more gears into transmissions, they can add the kind of highway gear I'm always bitching about not having in my car (which, BTW, they adjusted for the 2009 model by putting in a taller final drive ratio) instead continuing to make the ratios closer and making 10th gear the same as 4th gear was in 1987. They might have to do something about the huge gaping parachute grilles that most cars have that far exceed the cooling needs of the car, so styling will change. They might end up marking the cars for increased tire pressure too.

It won't take any expensive or revolutionary engine technology to get the job done, though Direct Injection is new and quickly becoming common and could help.
President Barack Obama outlined Tuesday the nation's first comprehensive effort to curb vehicle emissions while cutting dependence on imported oil, calling the plan an historic turning point toward a "clean-energy economy."
Umm...the nation has had various comprehensive efforts to curb emissions and reduce oil dependence for the past 35 years. The article is wrong to say "first".
Administration officials said consumers were going to pay an extra $700, anyway, for mileage standards that had already been approved. The Obama plan adds another $600 to the price of a vehicle, a senior administration official said, bringing the total cost to $1,300 by 2016.
Oh, well when you put it that way...super. I mean, if I'm already going to get raped for another $700, might as well rape me for an additional $600. It's not like my bunghole hurts from it, not at all. That's right, go ahead and continue to push the new car further out of reach of the common working man.
In exchange, though, cash-strapped states such as California would not have to develop their own standards and enforcement plan.
Seriously, that's a concern? California has more practice at doing that than any other government in the world. You'd think they could handle the job relatively efficiently by now.
1980 Buick LeSabre 4.1L 5MT

Put your car in your sig!

Learn to launch/FAQs/lugging/misused terms: meta-sig
watkins wrote:Humans have rear-biased AWD. Cows have 4WD
permabanned
Master Standardshifter
Posts: 2472
Joined: Sun Sep 21, 2008 1:48 am

Re: obama makes emissions and milage standards

Post by permabanned »

as long as my county stays emissions free i could care less about it.
95 probe GT
02 yamaha R6
Image
My Flickr
noob5,000,000
Master Standardshifter
Posts: 9380
Joined: Wed Nov 15, 2006 10:57 pm
Cars: 1986 Mazda RX-7 x2
Location: Sterling Heights, Michigan
Contact:

Re: obama makes emissions and milage standards

Post by noob5,000,000 »

permabanned wrote:as long as my county stays emissions free i could care less about it.
+ 8675698347439784
1986 Mazda RX-7 sport - slowly returning to the Earth
1986 Mazda RX-7 base - Project car, ???, In pieces, turbo parts around.
User avatar
jomotopia
Moderator
Posts: 10230
Joined: Fri Mar 24, 2006 1:01 pm
Cars: 04 STi, 05 Matrix XR (AT)
Location: AWD Turbo Nirvana
Contact:

Re: obama makes emissions and milage standards

Post by jomotopia »

permabanned wrote:as long as my county stays emissions free i could care less about it.
it may not... i think the reason some places don't have emissions now is because states/counties can set lower requirements than the federal requirement, but not higher.
In a battle over emission standards, California, 13 other states and the District of Columbia have urged the federal government to let them enact more stringent standards than the federal government's requirements.
however, if this becomes a nation-wide requirement, then all states and counties would probably be required to enforce it to that level. if that's the case, then this will probably end up costing Florida a pretty penny since they have no emissions or inspection at all in the entire state.

then again, it may only apply to the actual production of the vehicles, and not matter once they are in the consumers' hands. i'm not sure.
2013 Subaru Impreza WRX in Orange
Trev
Senior Standardshifter
Posts: 310
Joined: Tue Oct 25, 2005 12:03 am
Cars: VW Jetta 00'
Location: Camarillo, CA

Re: obama makes emissions and milage standards

Post by Trev »

The new credit card laws will force companies to wait 45 days before raising customer interest rates, post the cards agreements online, and allow for free online banking. The new bill doesn't even include the proposed cap on interest rates at 15%.

I understand some people believe in the free market but credit card companies have really screwed over large portions of the population over the past 10+ years.
User avatar
wannabe
Master Standardshifter
Posts: 8113
Joined: Tue May 15, 2007 11:48 am
Cars: NONE - take the bus
Location: Grand Rapids, MI
Contact:

Re: obama makes emissions and milage standards

Post by wannabe »

unless i'm missing something, those things posted in trev's post make sense....
2003 Chrysler town and country

Crafting and stuff
User avatar
theholycow
Master Standardshifter
Posts: 16021
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2008 1:36 pm
Cars: '80 Buick LeSabre 4.1 5MT
Location: Glocester, RI
Contact:

Re: obama makes emissions and milage standards

Post by theholycow »

Yeah, the credit card companies are actually quite abusive. The free market can't seem to fix that, since you usually don't find out until it's too late and they own you.
1980 Buick LeSabre 4.1L 5MT

Put your car in your sig!

Learn to launch/FAQs/lugging/misused terms: meta-sig
watkins wrote:Humans have rear-biased AWD. Cows have 4WD
User avatar
theholycow
Master Standardshifter
Posts: 16021
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2008 1:36 pm
Cars: '80 Buick LeSabre 4.1 5MT
Location: Glocester, RI
Contact:

Re: obama makes emissions and milage standards

Post by theholycow »

You don't have to mess up. Once you have a decently high balance and they think you can't just pay it all off immediately, they jack up your rates. You do not even need to be late on a single payment for your rates to go up to 25% or more.

Of course, the usual answer to that is "You should be paying it off every month"; but if you're going to do that you might as well just have a debit card. People choose a credit card so they can have the credit available just in case. Just in case your car breaks and you have to get to work to pay the bills. Just in case your mom gets sick and you have to fly across the country to be with her. Just in case you lose your job and the electric bill keeps coming anyway. Sure, lots (probably most) large credit card balances are from a "spend it before you earn it" attitude, but that doesn't make it okay to rape anyone, especially not the ones who weren't irresponsible.

They change the contract every couple months and just send you a book with the new contract. They don't necessarily highlight the differences. So, you can read dozens of pages of fine print every couple months, or just hope that the new contract doesn't say "bend over more".

Yes, it says in the original contract that they can send a new contract without consulting you first. However, if credit cards are to be an important part of the economy, they need to be usable. You can't expect the whole population to suddenly boycott credit cards until the contracts and behavior become reasonable. That only leaves teh gubbamint to step in and regulate trade -- one of the things that is certainly a purpose of government.

I am a huge believer in smaller government. I want the government to GTFO of a lot of parts of life and business. I am not an extremist, though, and I can see where logically they should actually step in and interfere. This is one such place.
1980 Buick LeSabre 4.1L 5MT

Put your car in your sig!

Learn to launch/FAQs/lugging/misused terms: meta-sig
watkins wrote:Humans have rear-biased AWD. Cows have 4WD
Jastreb
Senior Standardshifter
Posts: 434
Joined: Wed Oct 08, 2008 6:57 pm
Cars: 2009 Mazda RX-8 R3, Blue
Location: LA Metro area, California

Re: obama makes emissions and milage standards

Post by Jastreb »

+1....

There's enough financial institutions giving it to the common man, I'm glad there's one less way they can take advantage.

Back to the topic though: I'm a bit ambivalent about CAFE. On the one hand we need to strive to raise efficiency. On the other hand, CAFE has already spawned the abominable SUV infestation, who knows what vehicular perversions it may yet cause. Plus it's unclear how emissions requirements will change (efficiency is different from emissions). I think there's enough emissions restrictions on cars in the United States. We already have rev-hang due to emissions regs. And don't even get me started on regulating CO2 as a pollutant... Transportation seems to be the easiest horse to flog, probably because the industry doesn't have the financio-political clout some of the other parties responsible for CO2 emissions.
2009 Mazda RX-8 R3
watkins
Master Standardshifter
Posts: 15880
Joined: Sun Jul 01, 2007 12:42 am
Cars: '08 Saab 9-5 Aero wagon
Location: Salem, MA

Re: obama makes emissions and milage standards

Post by watkins »

Jastreb wrote: Transportation seems to be the easiest horse to flog, probably because the industry doesn't have the financio-political clout some of the other parties responsible for CO2 emissions.
Like cows?
User avatar
theholycow
Master Standardshifter
Posts: 16021
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2008 1:36 pm
Cars: '80 Buick LeSabre 4.1 5MT
Location: Glocester, RI
Contact:

Re: obama makes emissions and milage standards

Post by theholycow »

watkins wrote:Like cows?
My wife does complain about my gaseous emissions...
1980 Buick LeSabre 4.1L 5MT

Put your car in your sig!

Learn to launch/FAQs/lugging/misused terms: meta-sig
watkins wrote:Humans have rear-biased AWD. Cows have 4WD
Post Reply