EPA moves against SUVs

Time for a little Good Friday statism from Obama's EPA. The agency has put into place the nation's first greenhouse gas regulation on automobiles and the results could be devastating.

The new rules, finalized by the Environmental Protection Agency and Transportation Department, require a fleet average of 35.5 miles a gallon by 2016 — up from an average 27.5 miles per gallon today.

Officials said the tougher tailpipe standards would save consumers money at the gas pump, reduce the nation's reliance on foreign oil and lower emissions of carbon dioxide and other climate-altering gases.

In Texas, by one estimate, the new rules will have the same effect on greenhouse gas emissions as removing 1.7 million of today's cars from the road.

The new rule will take effect into 2012, which gives automakers only two years to completely overhaul their lines of cars. Miles-per-gallon averages for automakers are largely dragged down by trucks and SUVs; a Ford Explorer gets only 13 mpg, for example. These also happen to be some of the most popular vehicles on the road today. According to AOL Autos, the bestselling car in the nation is the Ford F-150, a pickup that gets only 14 mpg. If automakers are forced to reduce the average mpg of their fleets of cars, they may have to simply produce fewer SUVs and trucks than are being demanded, which could lose them substantial business. This is a dangerous idea at a time when car sales are still languishing from the recession.

The EPA derives this power from a Supreme Court ruling giving them unilateral authority to enforce the Clean Air Act. This allows the EPA to get around Congress and even the president himself. But the Clean Air Act was designed to reduce smog, not greenhouse gases. Even Democrat Rep. John Dingell who authored the Clean Air Act has admitted, "This is not what was intended by Congress."

The EPA has already used its newfound authority to pass new nitrogen dioxide standards and force container ships trading with America to go green. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson has indicated that more regulations are on the way.