CAFE Requirements

[Passport1]

Why are there CAFE regulations? Do they mean anything to you? Influence your buying habits?
I poached this from Eric Peters, probably the best auto journalist today.

CAFE
The authority to do this is nowhere to be found in the Constitution — though some will say, rightly, that there were no cars (or trucks) around when the Constitution became the law of the land in 1789. Ah, but there were horses and carriages. And for some reason, these are not mentioned in the Constitution as something over which the federal government has regulatory dominion. That reason, of course, was that the writers of the Constitution and the people who ratified it did not grant the federal government the authority to exercise regulatory dominion over horses and carriages. People were free to buy (and ride) larger or smaller horses and ride in smaller or larger carriages as they liked.



Please don't make this an Icarus moment and fly too close to the BITOG restrictions so maybe this thread gets locked.

 

[b_b]

all i will say is the size and scope of govt today would absolutely terrify the founding fathers.

 

[supton]

AFAIK we're still free to buy large vehicles... automakers are the ones who have to toe the line and hit targets for the average of what they sell.

There's a reason why land yachts have dissappeared, along with the family truckster station wagon--and why 4 door pickups now prowl our streets. And why CUV's sit higher off the ground. And why flex fuel (helps the average).

 

[skyactiv]

Knee jerk type thread which I'm not bothered by. My dad is a retired attorney and I might understand the constitution somewhat.
Stating it's nowhere to be found in the constitution is dumb.

Lots of you guys don't know this, but CAFE punishes auto makers more when it comes to making a small pickup from yesteryear
like say if Chevy wanted to make a cheap small S10 than it does a full-size truck.

 

[Leo99]

all i will say is the size and scope of govt today would absolutely terrify the founding fathers.

I'm not so sure about that. Some Federalist founding fathers might be seeing what they envisioned.

Jefferson and his anti-Federalist cohorts would be terrified.

 

[97prizm]

Why are there CAFE regulations? Do they mean anything to you? Influence your buying habits?
I poached this from Eric Peters, probably the best auto journalist today.

CAFE
The authority to do this is nowhere to be found in the Constitution — though some will say, rightly, that there were no cars (or trucks) around when the Constitution became the law of the land in 1789. Ah, but there were horses and carriages. And for some reason, these are not mentioned in the Constitution as something over which the federal government has regulatory dominion. That reason, of course, was that the writers of the Constitution and the people who ratified it did not grant the federal government the authority to exercise regulatory dominion over horses and carriages. People were free to buy (and ride) larger or smaller horses and ride in smaller or larger carriages as they liked.



Please don't make this an Icarus moment and fly too close to the BITOG restrictions so maybe this thread gets locked.

View attachment 171760

If manufacturers would quit rolling over and giving in would be a great start. The "Carbon offset " scheme is an absolute atrocity. For the Californian govt to tell car manufacturers that they had to pay because they didn't have an all electric fleet is garbage. Every manufacturer in the usa should have shown up and told the People's republic to go shove it. I called it the hand money to Tesla bill. The new CAFE rules have already been met with push back from a number of automakers. Unfortunately the morons in power really don't understand anything. They think that if rules are enacted that it'll just "happen ".

 

[Passport1]

Some Federalist founding fathers might be seeing what they envisioned.

Maybe only Hamilton?

 

[bullwinkle]

The “general welfare” clause is the constitutional root of all evil… It’s been used to justify LOTS of things the Founding Fathers never even imagined. And IBTL!

 

[fdcg27]

The authority for most of what the federal government does is found nowhere in the Constitution, nor does it need to be.
The Constitution was intended to be the basis upon which a government could be formed and run with the knowledge that there would inevitably be massive change over the years which would necessitate an evolving role for our government.
Does anyone think that the drafters thought we'd forever be using sailing ships and draft animals for transportation and muzzle loading rifles for defense?
Nothing about jet combat aircraft or nuclear weapons in our founding document that I'm aware of, nor was there anything about making land grants to investors to promote the construction of railroads.

 

[FowVay]

The only CAFE rules I care about are the ones that say "No Shoes, No Shirt, No service". Down here in rural Georgia they won't let you eat at the counter if your overalls aren't buttoned up.

 

[Jackson_Slugger]

Isn't there a "no politics" thing here? Um, the Constitution also says nothing of an Air Force or Space Force, therefore they must be illegal!

 

[PimTac]

It’s been almost fifty years since they started it.

 

[spackard]

There were two decades in there of very anemic cars.

 

[supton]

There were two decades in there of very anemic cars.

But that was largely from emissions laws, no? CAFE didn't help but a collision course was set, between safety, mpg and emissions. Technology just wasn't there yet, but, I'm not sure they had a choice: LA was a smog bowl, you couldn't be sure you could buy gas if you wanted, although most just accepted that when it was your time, it was your time.

 

[4WD]

Gives rise to this question - if the big boys get their ducks in a row on EV - will there be a mixed line up that balances CAFE - and allows a smaller group of purposeful ICE powered vehicles …
Maybe even a better made ICE group ?

 

[priler]

I agree that Eric Peters at ericpetersautos.com has the clearest, best understanding, highest overall picture of what's going on in the auto industry today. Don't just read one article and, if you want, forget his politics, keep "flipping" page after page after page and read to understand.

 

[super20dan]

remember what happened when trump offered to roll back california cafe standards?