Congressman James Lankford reacted today to an announcement from the Obama Administration on the finalization of the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) rules for vehicle manufacturers.
President Obama stated that his new rules represent the single-most important step the United States has ever taken to reduce dependence on foreign oil.
“President Obama asserts the finalization of the CAFE standards is a big step in energy independence,” said Lankford. “Unfortunately for taxpayers and consumers, this will likely lead to a giant leap in prices. Crafting these regulations in a secret deal to appease environmentalists and political supporters puts more burdens on vehicle manufacturers and purchasers.”
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, of which Lankford is a member, released a staff report earlier this month that delineates the ways in which the Obama Administration has issued an all-out assault on automakers without regard for consumer costs, choices, or safety. A copy of the House Oversight Committee’s staff report can be found here.
“President Obama sits idly by while important initiatives that would help make us energy independent, like the Keystone XL pipeline and energy exploration on federal lands, still wait for approval,” observed Lankford. “He slowed the process for drilling both onshore and offshore. His Administration thwarts safe and clean energy retrieval practices, like hydraulic fracturing, at every opportunity. His policies have promulgated unnecessary environmental rules in response to a manufactured problem, which have already increased prices for everyone.”
“This Administration depicts fracking, for example, as a new, unsafe energy option, while states like Oklahoma and Texas have been industry leaders in fracking for more than 60 years. Hydraulic fracturing is only one step in an already safe and accountable multi-step process. The 2.1 million-mile underground natural gas delivery system has a remarkable safety record, and voluntary chemical disclosures from more than 115 companies have provided transparency and accountability on the chemicals used in the process.
“We can work together to improve mile-per-gallon standards through free-market choice and consumer expectations,” continued Lankford. “We can work to keep our air and water clean through continued efforts by energy companies and increased state oversight, rather than federal regulations. Cherry-picking winners and losers in an industry does nothing but hand us more defunct companies like Solyndra.”
Solyndra received $525 million in federal loans and was attempting to receive a second loan from the Department of Education (DOE) just prior to declaring bankruptcy. It appears that the White House and Energy Secretary Chu rushed the loan through the process as the first DOE loan-guarantee project to receive stimulus dollars. The Administration wanted Solyndra to be its poster child for green energy investments, but things did not exactly turn out as they planned.
“We can add the closed-door, backroom decisions on CAFE standards, which drastically increase the cost of our energy, to the litany of regulations President Obama will brag about for the sake of appeasing his electoral base,” concluded Lankford.
President Obama’s official announcement is available here.
Eliminate the cafe standards the demands of the public will dictate which automobiles the public wants.