Republicans Willing To Trade Bad Emissions For Better Safety

Aaron Cole
by Aaron Cole

In its proposal Wednesday, U.S. House Republicans offered a carbon credit plan for automakers to trade tougher emissions standards for more safety technology. ( You know, the safety features that people are already willing to pay for.)

“This is a life-saving endeavor,” Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., said according to Reuters (via Automotive News). Trading pollution for safety, “incentivizes automakers to invest in new safety technology that will save more lives.”

The plan would relax future carbon dioxide requirements up to 9 percent in cars with advanced safety systems. An automotive lobby group said reducing crashes would reduce CO2 emissions.

According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration director Mark Rosekind, car companies don’t necessarily need incentives to make their cars any safer.

“Save lives, prevent injuries — that should be the highest incentive that anybody needs to add advanced technologies,” Rosekind said, according to Reuters.

Upton’s proposal would include a sliding scale for credits awarded to vehicles based on technology. A car with three advanced devices could give automakers an additional credit of 3 grams of CO2 per mile, whereas a car that communicates with the road could earn up to 6 grams of CO2 per mile.

(In other news, the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture will offer farmers free water not to grow fruit with razor blades in them.)


Aaron Cole
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  • Brandloyalty Brandloyalty on Oct 21, 2015

    If you consider all the safety features cars have, which ones do you view as wussie? Safety glass? Seatbelts? Steering wheels without sharp chrome horn rings? Steering columns with collapse zones? Signal lights? Mirrors? Your view has been voiced by some at every level of the evolution of cars. Does that make it arbitrary, or do you think you're so special that at this moment cars have suddenly become too safe for "REAL MEN"? What safety features would you consider unnecessary for your children, for instance?

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    • Krhodes1 Krhodes1 on Oct 24, 2015

      @Lou_BC Issues that have been worked out, a least in better cars. I found the ESC/TCS to be completely unobtrusive in my Saab 9-3, Fiat Abarth, and both BMWs. Even when trying to be stupid in the snow on purpose. The e-diff on the BMW works great, as long as you give it something to work with, i.e. have winter tires. I could see no seasons giving it fits, as you can't control NO traction. Particularly with the BMW, TCS/ESC on or off is literally a night and day difference in the snow. Even with winter tires without it is a tailwagging experience. With it, the car just goes. I do think implementations vary greatly, I have had rental cars that were FAR too quick to reduce power, and '90s Saabs with their early TCS were notorious for being just about undrivable in snow with it on.

  • Mechaman Mechaman on Oct 22, 2015

    ....and ketchup is a vegetable ....

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    • Drzhivago138 Drzhivago138 on Oct 22, 2015

      @VolandoBajo Tomatoes are essentially a berry. Ketchup is a sauce made from tomatoes, vinegar, and corn syrup. Pumpkins and other squash-types are fruit, as are cucumbers, peppers, and avocadoes. Corn is a grain/starch, and rhubarb is a vegetable.

  • Carlisimo Carlisimo on Oct 22, 2015

    Ah, Republicans, always happy to mortgage our future for short-term gains. Of course they're the party of the old.

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    • VolandoBajo VolandoBajo on Oct 22, 2015

      @VoGo Well, considering that Paul Ryan has a reputation as a budget wonk, is likely to become the Speaker, and since the conservative Republican caucus says that it is not insisting that it get its way on specific positions as a requirement to support a new speaker, that just might happen. The conservative caucus is seeking assurance that rules will be changed so that it no longer is so easy for committee chairman to block new proposals from the floor being brought to vote. In other words more input from more representatives which just might result in more new ideas.

  • Onus Onus on Oct 22, 2015

    I see most people think cafe is unrealistic. The mpg targets are not the same numbers you'll see on the monroney label. It is instead the old unadjusted fuel economy numbers. I'd say most cars are pretty close to meeting their target marks. Not to mention this idea is not a very good one. IIHS seems to do a good job getting automakers to adopt safety measures and its an independent company. You'd think conservatives would love that.

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    • VolandoBajo VolandoBajo on Oct 22, 2015

      The insurance companies are an oligopoly that is legally exempt from antitrust and pricefixing laws. Congress intended to grant the industry this benefit for one year to enable it to recover from WW II, and the industry has tied the issue up in court in perpetuity, thus mostly silently being the only US industry that has total exemption from antitrust laws. So now you know why insurance is so expensive, and why it is so hard to find out how much profit they make. Their other scam is that they get to set their rates based only on their loss experience, and do not have to take into account the much greater profits they make from investing your premium money in the marketplace.

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