Secretary Mineta Seeks Authority To Set Car Mileage Standards WASHINGTON – Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta came to Congress Wednesday, pleading for the ability to apply new fuel-economy standards to passenger cars. The reaction was decidedly mixed. “The President doesn’t ask lightly for this authority,” he told the House Energy and Commerce Committee. “This administration has already made great strides in improving fuel economy for light trucks. We have the expertise and experience to boost fuel economy without needlessly sacrificing safety or American jobs. I now respectfully ask for the authority to achieve similar gains for the passenger car fleet.” Committee Chairman Joe Barton, R-Texas, said that Mineta’s department currently “lacks clear, explicit authority to alter requirement for passenger cars, since Congress set that standard.” “We may need to go farther,” he added. “I also want the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to take a hard look at reforming the entire structure of mileage estimates for passenger cars.” Democrats, however, weren’t having any of it, and Mineta took a shellacking before he even had the chance to explain his request. U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., led the assault by telling Mineta, a former Democratic congressman, that he doesn’t need authority from Congress because “the administration could have used the authority under CAFE years ago.” But Mineta’s testimony directly rebutted that line. In fact, “the original statute did not authorize DOT to change the way the standard applied to different-sized cars,” he told the committee. At one point, Barton jokingly tested the uncomfortable truth that mileage could be improved dramatically if the Congress simply prohibited low-mileage vehicles, but nobody seemed interested, including Democrats. “Let me see a show of hands of people who drive a vehicle that gets more than 40 miles a gallon,” he asked. “Out of a hundred, I see four hands. Now, let me see a show of hands in favor of a ban on vehicles that get less than 40 miles per gallon. …The chair notes that nobody in this room raised a hand.” Democrats, however, were skeptical about a bill to authorize new fuel efficiency rules. “We don’t need this legislation,” asserted U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J. “We’re just dinking around,” said U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo. “I find this whole hearing rather strange, rather bizarre,” added U.S. Rep. Lois Capps, D-Calif., and U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., said a session to hear from Secretary Mineta gave him a “Twilight Zone feeling.” The draft bill under consideration grants NHTSA authority to set gasoline mileage standards for cars and is expected to be taken up and voted on by the full Energy and Commerce Committee next week. ####