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Arkansans join national campaign opposing new fuel efficiency standards Wednesday, May 30, 2007 By John Lyon Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - With gas prices in the state still averaging above $3 per gallon, several Arkansas business people on Tuesday joined a national campaign opposing legislation that would increase fuel efficiency requirements for new vehicles. In a full-page advertisement in Arkansas' statewide newspaper, they urge Arkansans to express to their U.S. senators opposition to a bill in Congress that would require new vehicles to get, on average, 35 miles per gallon by 2020, increasing from the current average of about 25 mpg. From 2021 through 2030, average fuel efficiency would be required to increase 4 percent per year. Senate Bill 1419 also would impose fuel efficiency standards on heavy-duty vehicles such as tractor-trailers that previously were exempt and allow the U.S. transportation secretary to set higher efficiency standards than those set by the legislation. Current standards were set in the 1970s. Attempts in Congress over the past three decades to raise the standards have so far failed. "These unrealistic fuel economy increases will provide no immediate savings at the gas pump but they might force automakers to discontinue popular models that many families and small businesses depend on," the ad states. Eight names appear at the bottom of the ad, among them Dennis Jungmeyer of North Little Rock, president of the Arkansas Automobile Dealers Association; Lloyd Webre of Little Rock, president of Associated Builders & Contractors of Arkansas; Jack Caldwell, owner of Jack Caldwell Toyota in Conway; and James Sheppard of Fayetteville, former director of business development for Paschall Strategic Communications. The ad was paid for by the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, which launched an advertising campaign over the Memorial Day weekend in states with large concentrations of pickup truck and sport utility vehicle owners. The campaign also includes radio ads opposing the bill by U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., the Senate majority leader. "The proposal, as I understand it, is pretty extreme and will force the full-line auto manufacturers to cut part of their line out to meet the standards," said Ted Smith, owner of Smith Ford in Conway, whose name appears in the ad. Smith said he understands consumers are feeling the pinch of high gas prices. During the past year he has seen an overall decline in sales of SUVs and other low-fuel-efficiency vehicles at his dealership, with sales tending to fluctuate with gas prices, he said. Sales trends demonstrate that the free market is taking care of the problem, according to Smith. "If the customers and consumers don't want to pay for the vehicles that don't do well, they're not going to buy them, and I guess the market will take care of itself there," he said. "But if you legislate them out of existence, you're going to be hurting the consumers' ability to choose what they buy, as well as dealers who get stuck with less sellable merchandise." Conservationists found the campaign's timing puzzling. "I find it amazing that anybody in times of $3.30 gas is lobbying against fuel economy standards," said Glen Hooks of the Sierra Club of Arkansas. "Any Arkansan who's been to the gas pump lately knows that we need cars that get further on a gallon of gas, and for the auto industry to oppose that is incredible." Hooks said the legislation does not go far enough. Technology exists to increase fuel efficiency to 40 or 45 mpg, although the political will for such a step is lacking in Washington, he said. "We should shoot for the top rather than settle for the middle," he said. Smith said he believes America does need to reduce greenhouse emissions and its dependence on foreign oil, but that those goals can be achieved by other means, such as developing alternative fuels and new technology, without forcing certain types of vehicles into extinction. Neil Sealy of ACORN, the Arkansas Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, said automakers have chosen to put technology to use making heavier, more powerful vehicles rather than fuel-efficient vehicles. Sealy said he has a "very, very profound skepticism" about the auto industry's arguments. "I think we could really be decades ahead of where we are," he said. Katie Laning, a spokeswoman for Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., said Tuesday that Lincoln is still reviewing the bill and has not yet taken a position on it. A phone call to the office of Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., was not immediately returned Tuesday. ------- The Associated Press contributed to this report. |
