Posted on 08/02/2018 9:47:51 AM PDT by re_tail20
The Trump administration on Thursday moved to freeze fuel economy standards in what officials described as an effort to give drivers access to “safer” and “more affordable” vehicles, in the latest swipe at former President Barack Obama's legacy.
The proposal comes just one day after the Trump administration announced major changes to health plans, providing consumers with more options to buy cheaper, short-term health insurance.
The Department of Transportation and Environmental Protection Agency proposed the vehicle change as the first formal step in setting new standards for model years 2021 through 2026. The plan would freeze the Obama-era requirements set to take effect after 2020.
“There are compelling reasons for a new rulemaking on fuel economy standards for 2021-2026,” Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao said in a statement Thursday. “More realistic standards will promote a healthy economy by bringing newer, safer, cleaner and more fuel-efficient vehicles to U.S. roads and we look forward to receiving input from the public.”
The administration also filed notice Thursday that it wants to revoke the authority of California and other states to set their own, stricter mileage standards -- independent of federal ones.
Acting EPA Director Andrew Wheeler said the change would strike a balance.
“Our proposal aims to strike the right regulatory balance based on the most recent information and create a 50-state solution that will enable more Americans to afford, newer, safer vehicles that pollute less,” Wheeler said in a statement. “More realistic standards can save lives while continuing to improve the environment.”
The EPA and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said the administration supports freezing the mileage standards after 2020, but would seek public comment now on that proposal and a range of others, including leaving the tighter, Obama administration fuel standards in place.
The current standards, according to the Department...
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Another upside to this is the possibility of using strongerheavier materials for the body of the car......safer for all of us. I remember back about 20 years ago, my cousin drove an Excursion and I remarked how nice it was and I wished we had one. She said she was going to trade it in on a smaller car as she would feel guilty if she ran into someone and they were injured because her car was so heavy. Yep, you guessed it....she’s a moonbat!
Don't you have to replace a runflat tire if you drive it on the "runflat" interior for very long? Aren't those expensive too? I don't have data, but I have a colleague that got rid of the run flats when it was time to change tires for several reasons, one being how expensive they were to replace.
It’s not just the cars that are affected by the insane energy standards. Years ago a GE Engineer explained to me why appliances SUCK these days. Energy standards.
In the old days, manufacturers overbuilt moving parts to accommodate wear and tear. They used metal parts and were pretty heavy. The heavier parts use more energy and bigger motors to drive components. To save energy, they switch to plastics and teflon parts. They switch from chains and bands to belts. The lighter parts should save money right? Wrong. The parts are cheaper but then you have to add technology to account for friction because the parts are also more susceptible to temperature changes and heat, especially friction. Then the controls and “smart” features to achieve the energy standards....
His point was the standards made simple machines more complicated and reduced the quality while making them more expensive. Then at the end of the day, you have to dry clothes twice and don’t save energy anyway. Then he started in on the toilets and having to flush twice all in an effort to save water (that this country has plenty of). It was an enlightening conversation from a guy that engineered appliances.
The logic of the runflat is when you’re in a bad part of town or say on US 95 north of Winnemucca and you get a flat on, say, your sidewall.
The tire will have to be replaced no matter what.
But because it’s a runflat you can safely drive to a location where it’s safe to change the tire or else if you’re in BF Egypt you can safely drive to civilization.
Without adding a $1500 to $2500 OEM rim to the cost of replacing a tire.
So the extra money for the runflat will make sense the very first time you find yourself wishing you’d bought the runflat instead of being stuck wherever you happen to get stuck.
I recently had to change a tire on my SUV in BF Ohio, on a rainy night, in the middle of nowhere. But first I had to roll on the tire to a place to safely pull off (24 10 miles from Defiance). I went on to Detroit on the spare. The next day I learned that I had to change all 4 tires because the tread was low on the other 3 and the stability control and all wheel drive would have problems if one tire was almost an inch in diameter larger. $550 and a wet drive at night on a spare.... Could I have driven that run-flat 200 miles?
What’s a run flat?
Ever see the Bridgestone commercials where the archers shoot arrows into tires and they drive the car 50 miles on flat tires?
“Could I have driven that run-flat 200 miles?”
Apparently some brands of these tires can go 200 miles.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Run-flat_tire
“In certain applications, depending on the vehicle, specific tire design, and driving surface, a run-flat tire can provide from 25 miles to 200 miles driving while flat with limited speed.”
Never thought of that. I received a Singer sewing machine for my high school graduation. It worked well for 30+ years and then an important metal part gave out, metal fatigue. I took it to a Singer repair shop where I was told they didn’t make that part anymore and I needed to buy a new machine. I traded in my old Singer for a new one and instantly regretted it. Took the new one back a couple of times for repairs and then we moved out of town. I ended up buying a Brother machine that is too fancy for me, but I can use it when I need to. How I wish I still had my old Singer and that it could have been repaired. And you’re right about the dryer. I dry all the clothes on Low wand use a very dry setting. I have to run them two or three times to get them completely dry.
That must be a really old picture; now days he looks more like a disgusting, bloated, bloodless, parasite.
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