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Does the government need to step in and force our car manufacturers to make more fuel efficient cars?

Overall the free market system does pretty good most of the time. But everything has weaknesses that must be adjusted. Free market economics has failed miserably in getting cars to be more fuel efficient. Consumers do not make good choices, but continue driving low mileage cars. And irresponsible corporations continue making them. There is no rational reason to manufacture any new passenger cars that get less than 35 miles per gallon starting June 1, 2008.

Public Comments

1. No, the American people need to start being responsible instead of waiting for the government to do EVERYTHING for them.
2. I think the government does not need to step in, this all takes time, Im sure that ford gm and chrysler are feeling the pressure from toyota nissan, honda and others. The reality is Toyota is now number 2 car vendor in this country replacing Ford, if fuel efficiency becomes a bigger issue Ford could easily become 4 or GM could lose its place to Toyota which is creeping up. Eventually they are just going to have to compete for our dollars or go the way of AMC.
3. yes, because even though we are irresponsible we still might need someone to step in and say no do this.
4. Are you serious, NO they do not need to continue legislating the auto mobile manufacturers, infact what they need to do is focus more time and effort on the ECONOMY or you tree huggers will actually have to go out and focus your efforts on a job and daily survival rather than b*tching about the fact that a car don't get 35 mpgs. If you want to be honest what the GVT. needs to do is through taxation assist GM., Ford, and Chrysler by import taxing all the imported vehicles that do nothing for our economy. Then have them use that money to put into production cars like the Chevy Volt " over 100 mpgs", The Hybrid SUV that Ford created that gets 100 mpgs, or the Dodge Zeo which runs on NO gas gets 265 Hp. and runs 0-60 in the low 6's. If you have any further questions about this just email me.
5. th government does't allow the homeless to sleep in the park the government takes from the poor to give to the rich the government is the one that's causing oil prices to hike up so they should do something about it but forcing car makers isn't a way to go. lowering gas prices is the real issue here
6. Its all to do with greed of big companies..... Oil companies being the worst.. One answer that could be used is in the annual registration fees. They used to do that in New Zealand ..Any car with an engine size over 1300cc got a whopping rego fee. But by the look of their latest TV stuff from there shows heaps of V8s & Holdens & Falcons & a lot of Jap cars made for the American market & the rest of the world have to put up with. They are all gas gusslers. Damn SUVs are all irresponsable...
7. This is an opinion, and since you so blatantly voiced yours, I'll do the same. Many people don't care about fuel efficiency. Personally, I think it's no big deal. Cars can be a hobby (and they are to many people) and a big part of that hobby, is going fast. As of right now its not exactly easy, or cheap to go fast without using a bunch of fuel. My trans am gets 20mpg and thats not gonna stop me from driving the hell out of it. So i believe there are plenty of rational reasons to have cars that aren't exactly fuel efficient. But to answer your question, the government has already done something, they passed a bill saying all cars must get 35mpg or better starting as of 2020 at the moment. And just because someone buys or drives a car that gets bad gas mileage, it doesn't mean they're irresponsible, it just means they aren't a tree hugging hippie.
8. The free market has done a horrible job of prompting manufacturers to build more-fuel efficient cars. Whenever the is a spike in fuel prices (the early 1980s are a great example), consumers flock to fuel-frugal cars. This is when small, light, fuel-efficient Japanese cars began making inroads into American markets. However, when fuel prices go down, Americans revert to the old 'bigger is better' ways. Bigger cars, bigger engines, bigger horsepower. The average fuel economy of cars sold in America has remained relatively constant for the last twenty years, at about 21 MPG average. Although manufacturers have made great inroads in making engines make more power while using less fuel, the average weight of vehicles has increased dramatically. A 1976 Honda Accord weighed in at right around 2,000 lbs. The 2008 Accord tips the scales at over 3,020 lbs. This mitigates much of the gain in economy the last 30 years of technological advances has given us. Insofar as the government's role in fuel economy is concerned, it can legislate all it wants, but that doesn't mean that things will change. I (were I a Senator) could propose a bill prohibiting the Sun from rising tomorrow, and it might pass, but that doesn't mean that it wouldn't. The same applies to fuel economy. CAFE (Coporate Average Fuel Economy) standards might be increased, but so long as people desire large, heavily-optioned (and therefore heavy), powerful cars, the demand for gas will remain high, and that will drive prices up.