Speaking of SUVs

Charles Peters: Tilting at Windmills, July/August 2001 Another piece of legislation that has been underreported---I found it on the last page of The Wall Street Journal's front section---is a bill sponsored in the House by Rep. John Olver (D-Mass.) and in the Senate by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.). It would require SUVs to meet the fuel efficiency standards of regular cars. As most of you know, SUVs are classified as trucks and only have to average 20.7 miles to the gallon, whereas regular cars have to average 27.5. Because of the SUVs' popularity, the average fuel efficiency of all cars, which had been increasing for years, is now decreasing at a time when the administration says we have an energy crisis. The press has been good about reporting the downside of the SUV, but it needs to write more about this bill to create public pressure on the White House to support it, even though it's sponsored by Democrats.