Alizium Auto Blogs: mike mcnessor

While the speedy implementation of stricter CAFE requirements for automakers has been all the talk in the news lately, gasoline prices - at least in my neck of the upstate New York woods - are on the rise. Why?

Albany, N.Y. County Controller Michael Connors was quoted in this morning’s Albany, N.Y. Times Union blaming oil companies for the rise in prices at the pump: “The first reason is because (the oil companies) want (the price of fuel) to go up and the second reason is because they can.”

Mac Brownson, president of the New York State Gasoline Retailers Association was quoted in the same story calling the price increase “pure avarice” on the part of oil companies. “Prices are up so much with no supply-and-demand reason for it. The demand is down, people are driving less and buying different vehicles. The supply is up there is lots of gas. It’s not illegal, but it’s immoral in this bad economy,” he said.

The two were speaking out presumably because in my part of the Empire State we already fork over a whopping 61 cents per gallon in taxes on a gallon of fuel and they wanted everyone to know that politicians and the guy at the corner gas station aren’t behind the increase.

Meanwhile, a wire story in the paper notes that crude oil prices hit a six-month high this week as speculators on Wall Street, many of whom received huge government bailouts, are pouring money into oil futures, betting that oil prices will rise as inflation erodes the value of the dollar. “This turns oil futures contracts into a way for investors to hedge against inflation at the expense of American consumers, who have to pay more to fill their tanks as oil and gasoline prices rise,” the story explains.

Fuel is already ridiculously cheap here compared to Europe and some island nations, but because our society is so dependent on it and we spend so much federal money subsidizing oil production anyway, should its cost to consumers be more closely regulated? Your thoughts?

Image courtesy of The Old Car Manual Project.

According to Time magazine, 50 years ago, 44-year-old Woody Bell drove a Rambler American Deluxe to a 25.2878 miles per gallon victory in the 1959 Mobilgas Economy Run. The marathon mileage competition was run over five days and 1,898 miles from Los Angeles California to Kansas City, Missouri.

Sure, it was a Rambler but even a Cadillac 62 managed 19.03 mpg.

Yesterday the Obama Administration announced that it wants the new car/light truck fleet average to be 10 mpg higher than what the Rambler was capable of a half century ago. Considering how far we’ve come in other areas: aviation, space travel, personal electronics, this nutty Internet thing, etc., and the fact that CAFE ratings peaked in the 1980s and have leveled off or declined slightly since (while 0 to 60 mph times have ramped up drastically) isn’t it about time this happened?

One thing is for sure, with Chrysler and GM on government life support, they won’t be in any position to resist. Here’s what GM President And CEO Fritz Henderson had to say yesterday:

General Motors commends President Obama’s leadership to establish a harmonized National Program to improve vehicle fuel economy and lower greenhouse gas emissions.
Energy security and climate change are national priorities that require federal leadership and the President’s direction makes sense for the country and the industry. Harmonizing a variety of regulations will benefit consumers across America by getting cleaner, more efficient vehicles on the road quicker and more affordably. In turn, GM and the auto industry benefit by having more consistency and certainty to guide our product plans.
GM is fully committed to this new approach. As the President has previously said, all stakeholders must come together and act with a common purpose and sense of urgency to address the nation’s energy and environmental priorities. We agree and this collaborative spirit is reflected in our viability plan. Delivering innovation and solutions that will strengthen America’s energy security, economy and competitiveness are a central part of GM’s reinvention.

Maybe it’s just me, but why has this taken so long? Thoughts?

Image courtesy of The Old Car Manual Project

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