Federal court overturns MPG standards for light trucks

The federal government has gotten more interested in greenhouse gases, and as a result there has been a lot of tough talk concerning raised CAFE numbers. Much less time has been devoted to reducing CO2, which is the single largest contributor to global warming. Now that the spotlight is shining squarely on emissions, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel has thrown out the 2008-2011 CAFE rating for light trucks. The 2008-2011 changes represented the largest jump in fuel economy in the history of CAFE, with MPG going from 22.2 to 24, but with the growing problem of greenhouse gases, that obviously didn't go far enough for the courts.

While better fuel economy and less harmful emissions coming from light trucks would be a welcome sight to all, changing the rules after 2008 trucks are already on the streets sounds a bit ridiculous. It isn't like automakers can easily change course for 2011, since much of the product plans are already set in stone. It has been 19 months since the new CAFE standards were introduced, which makes this seem more like an effort to get automakers to chase their own tails.

[Source: Automotive News - Sub. Req.]