NHTSA: Congressional Blocking Of EPA GH Gas Rules May Backfire

The Obama Administration warns that automakers could be hit with unintended acceleration of their costs if Congress succeeds in blocking EPA greenhouse gas emissions. The Detroit News reports:

In a letter to congressional leaders, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s chief counsel, O. Kevin Vincent, said Congress would jeopardize a deal reached by automakers, California and the White House if it blocks the EPA from using its power to limit greenhouse gases.

California and a dozen states could go forward, each with its own rules, if Congress blocks EPA from setting national standards. That would have the impact of “creating confusion, encouraging renewed litigation, and driving up the cost of compliance to automobile manufacturers and consumers alike,” Vincent wrote.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, has introduced a bill to block EPA’s power under the Clean Air Act to limit emissions from motor vehicles and other sources. Two key House Democrats — the chairmen of the House Agriculture and Armed Services Committees — have introduced a similar bill.

Passage of Murkowski’s bill “would have profoundly adverse effects on the national economy, national environmental and energy security objectives, and the economically distressed automobile manufacturing industry,” Vincent wrote.

The administration (NHTSA & EPA) is trying to wrap up a combined fuel economy and tailpipe limit for 2012-2016 model year vehicles that would cost an estimated $60 billion. The 2016 fleet average would be 34.1 mpg for cars and trucks.

The proposed standards would reduce emissions by nearly 950 million metric tons and conserve 1.8 billion barrels of oil over the lifetime of the vehicles sold in the next five years — the projected equivalent of taking 58 million cars off the road for an entire year. It would save motorists $3,000 in fuel over the lifetime of the vehicles, but add an average of $1,300 to the purchase price of a new vehicle.

Several states, including Texas, Virginia and Alabama, along with business groups and others have filed suit to block the EPA from exercising its authority it won under an April 2007 Supreme Court decision.

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the trade association representing Detroit’s Big Three, Toyota Motor Corp. and other major automakers, wants the joint regulations finalized.

“It’s important to manufacturers to have those rules in place so that we can finalize future product plans,” said alliance spokesman Charles Territo.