There has been some discussion in Congress and at the White House regarding tightening up Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. This approach created in the 1970s creates requirements on manufacturers to have their entire new car fleets average a certain number of miles per gallon of gasoline. This does not necessarily increase fuel economy on all vehicles, it simply mandates a fleet wide increase.

The reason for this policy choice was two fold. Car makers didn't want to be told that they had to improve fuel economy on any specific vehicle, they wanted greater flexibility in the standards. Environmentalists wanted cars in general to get better gas mileage. They also wanted to promote smaller cars, which they saw as inherently more efficient and better for the environment.

The problem with this standard is it doesn't guarantee that all cars will become more efficient, nor that people who want larger, sturdier vehicles can get them. There are two standards – and 22 mpg for light and average duty pickup chassis, and 27 mpg for car chassis. There is no regulation on how efficient any specific vehicle is except that this average much be met with all vehicles. A car company could simply discontinue or limit sales of less efficient vehicles, and not improve the economy on any of it's vehicles.

That doesn't make much sense for either the consumer or the car company. It also doesn't push technical innovation while providing the cars and trucks people want. Often car companies push deep discounts on small cars to encourage people to buy them, even when there is not a market for them. Other times, car companies avoid fuel standards by using the ethanol waiver, that gives corporate fuel averages extra points by allowing their cars to run on alternative fuels.

People should be able to get whatever vehicle they want, big or small. That vehicle should be getting the best economically feasible fuel economy possible. Just because you need or want a pickup truck, why should you not be getting good fuel economy for that vehicle? Industry must be pushed to do better, with aggressive regulation that forces creative thinking when it comes to cars.

Any standard should be based on narrow classes of vehicles. That's what President Bush has proposed. Yet, we have to wonder if his standards are through enough, and aggressive enough to promote real change. There must not only be tough standards that accurately delineate vehicles with different capacities and projected uses, there also must be tax breaks for research, and government sponsored research that will lead to even more efficient standards.

There also much be a sense of fairness in the standards. No vehicle class should get off easy. Medium duty pickup trucks should see their fuel economy increased in percentage amount the same amount as mid-sized passanger cars. For example, if government says that within two years cars must get 1% better gas milage, then a 14 MPG pickup should get 15.4 MPG after the new standard, while a 30 MPG mid-sized sedan should get 33 MPG after the new standard.

That's simple fairness for both the pickup owner and the car owner. Whatever size vehicle you own, you should have the right to get better gas mileage. It should not disadvantage those of us who farm, live in the country, have big families, or do other activities that require us to have big vehicles. Yet at the same time, we all should get our fair share of the improved fuel economy.