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EPA Prepares To Roll Back Rules Requiring Cars To Be Cleaner and More Efficient (nytimes.com)

Coral Davenport and Hiroko Tabuchi, reporting for The New York Times: The Trump administration is expected to launch an effort in coming days to weaken greenhouse gas emissions and fuel economy standards for automobiles, handing a victory to car manufacturers and giving them ammunition to potentially roll back industry standards worldwide. The move -- which undercuts one of President Barack Obama's signature efforts to fight climate change -- would also propel the Trump administration toward a courtroom clash with California, which has vowed to stick with the stricter rules even if Washington rolls back federal standards. That fight could end up creating one set of rules for cars sold in California and the 12 states that follow its lead, and weaker rules for the rest of the states, in effect splitting the nation into two markets.

Scott Pruitt, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, is expected to frame the initiative as eliminating a regulatory burden on automakers that will result in more affordable trucks, vans and sport utility vehicles for buyers, according to people familiar with the plan. An E.P.A. spokeswoman confirmed that Mr. Pruitt had sent a draft of the 16-page plan to the White House for approval.
Further reading: EPA to its employees: Ignore science when talking about climate change (ArsTechnica)

378 comments

  1. Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Midnight+Thunder · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Surely this change in regulation would do more to hurt US car companies that help them? If they don't design and build for efficiency, then surely this would limit their ability to export to any market that cares about efficiency or where fuel costs are already high? This feels like another short term action, just like trying to protect the coal industry, that will end up hurting more in the long run, than doing any real good.

    --
    Jumpstart the tartan drive.
    1. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      No, no, it's MAGA! Making Americans Get Asphyxiated!

    2. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      Why would anyone want the Americans to win? They are the world's leading warmonger nation. Anything that makes them weaker improves the world.

    3. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Kohath · · Score: 4, Insightful

      American car companies make money on trucks and SUVs, not high MPG cars.

    4. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're kidding, right? Do you really believe US cars can compete on fuel efficiency internationally? American cars are built for the American market.

    5. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by oic0 · · Score: 1

      If it's better for their worldwide margins to build more efficient cars, they will continue to do so. They pay people a lot of money to help them come up with their market strategies. Also, you may actually see an increase in fuel economy. Emissions hardware tends to sap power or require a motor to run in an inefficient manner to achieve the parameters needed to reduce emissions. You usually push your foot down harder to compensate and hence burn more fuel. I'm not saying this whole thing is a good idea, just that its not cut and dry "goodbye fuel economy, hello fumes!".

    6. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 4, Informative

      "American" cars outside the US are often very different than those sold in the US. US automakers have subsidiaries in quite a few non-US countries, and the cars they make are tailored to local markets.

    7. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by silverkniveshotmail. · · Score: 2

      Because you're stuck breathing the same air as us.

    8. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      2016 called, and the DNC wants its money back spent on the unsuccessful trolls.
       
      On a serious sidentote, what's the retainer like for the 2020 election, and what's the minimum you have to sign up for?

    9. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

      The cowards are correct. In general, a heavy vehicle will win in a collision with a light one. p=mv. If you disagree, drive headlong into a train as a test.

    10. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Top-heavy pork-mobiles are also less able to avoid an accident. Inertia's a bitch. Honestly, if I wanted to drive a fuckin' truck, I'd get a job for UPS. I'd drive a Miata, classic MR2, Civic, or motorbike over a bloated SUV any day.

    11. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Lije+Baley · · Score: 2

      As someone who has been shopping for a new vehicle lately, I am dismayed by how many of the new vehicles have implemented desperate measures to achieve the higher CAFE requirements. The low hanging fruit in efficiency improvements seems to have all been picked. Now things like start/stop, exotic transmissions, and some poor turbo implementations are making the vehicles drive worse than the previous generation. And with electric/hybrid vehicles, many hidden costs remain a question, including rumored safety issues around fire and rescue response due to the battery packs. I can't help but feel that the car companies would have an easier sale if they could sell people what they want vs what the government is mandating.

      --
      Strange things are afoot at the Circle-K.
    12. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Doesn't matter what's better long term... it's the more of the same from Trump; get rid of those burdensome regulations so companies can keep making money by not innovating and doing the same thing they've always done. Guessing it's cheaper to build a car that doesn't meet environmental guidelines, so just keep the price the same, make the product cheaper, and pocket the difference!

      Time to get back to the 50's when everything was great!

    13. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Know how many markets have higher or equal emissions standards?

      ZERO.

      IT'S FUCKING ZERO!

    14. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by freeze128 · · Score: 2

      So, what you're saying is that American car makers cannot make efficient, clean cars unless there is a law that requires them to? I don't know if I believe that.

    15. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 1

      Europe and Asia make up for it with expensive gas, indirectly punishing high CO2 emissions. Also, as far as smog standards abroad, would you rather have L.A.'s air be like Rome's? Thought not :)

    16. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Interesting

      > Why would anyone want the Americans to win? They are the world's leading warmonger nation. Anything that makes them weaker improves the world.

      I have my doubts about that. Until now, it seems Russia dances very well with them...

      > Because you're stuck breathing the same air as us.

      You cannot make them wiser; if they were wiser they would be wiser by themselves...

      I already boycott American car companies, but not other business areas. I shall reconsider and probably exclude other industry sectors. This is hard because not all industries are oblivious to the current world climate state.

      And those who deny the human role in climate change will be boycotted without further consideration.

      Also, I'd like to know whether there's a list by some independent NGO of business which:

      a) strongly contribute for climate worsening or
      b) promote FUD about climate change.

      TIA.

    17. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Holi · · Score: 1

      Tell that to Ford, the top selling cars/light trucks in the world are Ford F-Series. The Focus is not too far down the list at 11.

      --
      Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
    18. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The cowards are correct.

      Indeed they are. Despite the deliberate de-emphasis of the consequences of lighter, smaller cars on mortality and injury, the deplorable knuckle-draggers of the US are perfectly aware of what the establishment wants to force them to drive, and they're not having it.

    19. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 1

      US automakers have subsidiaries in quite a few non-US countries

      For some reason, that phrase amused me and brought up an interesting question. I can grasp what non-US countries are . . .

      . . . but what are US countries . . . ? Besides the US itself, of course.

      --
      Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
    20. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      nearly all of those "burdensome regulations" that he's gotten rid of were never implemented.

    21. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Well, sure, if you limit the competition to a gas guzzler category, an American company can compete.

    22. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      As someone who has been shopping for a new vehicle lately, I am dismayed by how many of the new vehicles have implemented desperate measures to achieve the higher CAFE requirements.

      Oh! Tell us more.

      The low hanging fruit in efficiency improvements seems to have all been picked. Now things like start/stop, exotic transmissions, and some poor turbo implementations are making the vehicles drive worse than the previous generation.

      Wow, that's quite a load of FUD. Let's unpack it, shall we?

      Start/stop is really something that troubles you? Feel free to tell us why.

      Exotic transmissions? You mean like the new CVT types? That's exotic to you? Continuously variable transmissions were invented almost a century ago and while you seem to think they are unusual, many of us understand the advantages of the concept.

      As to the "poor turbo implementations" my wife enjoys her Volkswagen turbo-equipped car quite a bit. Which specific turbos do you, a clearly well-educated and auto-minded individual that you are, feel are badly implemented. Feel free to elaborate.

      And with electric/hybrid vehicles, many hidden costs remain a question, including rumored safety issues around fire and rescue response due to the battery packs.

      And yet with well over a decade of use and hundreds of thousands of vehicle being driven every single day - none of the fears you suffer from have materialized. How do you explain that?

      I can't help but feel that the car companies would have an easier sale if they could sell people what they want vs what the government is mandating.

      Well, let's look at this particularly interesting assertion.

      The automobile companies are really not interested in what you or I want, they service the broader market and provide choices which they believe will be acceptable to the majority. In fact, in a famous study conducted by Ford in the early 1960s, Ford's marketing people asked thousands of loyal Ford customers exactly what they wanted in a car. The responses indicated that the average customer wanted air conditioning, electric windows, seat belts, power steering along with several other (at the time) expensive options. Being the good company Ford was, they began building these cars equipped with all of the desirable options only to find that when the customers saw the price increase, they didn't buy.

      Somewhat ironically, now almost every car incorporates all of the aforementioned options - but when people complain about new car prices, they seem to forget all we take for granted.

    23. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      Wow, you're a douche aren't you?

      "Exotic transmission", like the ZF 9 speed that's caused problems due to harsh shifting in every implementation.

      Start/Stop is obnoxious, period. Did you really need someone to tell you that? It'd be one thing if the feature could be perma-disabled, but that's not an option in any mainstream vehicle.

      Most turbo implementations are lousy, they either lag way too much and feel slower than their N/A equivalent, or have no little to no top end. They *ALL* consume more fuel than their N/A equivalents if they're actually used. Turbocharging is really a shockingly stupid approach to fuel economy, as it results in a lower static compression ratio, and runs rich when under boost; if the EPA used an even half reasonable test it would be demonstrated as such. Turbos are good power adders in certain implementations, and that's what they're good for, period.

      The auto companies are not interested in what their customers want? Are you even serious with that statement. Seriously go find a nice tree branch and hang yourself from it. You're really too stupid to bother replying to any more than I already have.

    24. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I first drove a car with start/stop in it in Germany over 10 years ago. It worked great. There's no reason for it to be a detriment to driving. Fast forward 10 years, my current car, a 2014 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid has start/stop flawlessly integrated and not even noticeable. No jarring or jerkiness.

      I get 37 mpg combined mileage (based on 4 years of real world driving) and because of the electric assist I get instant torque whenever I want to pass grandma on the freeway. The hybrid drivetrain is a clean a win win, not a desperate measure, and it's what I as a consumer now expect as the minimum technical solution for future vehicles. I'll never go back to pure IC engine--it'd be like going back to flip phone from an iphone.

    25. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 1

      Start stop can be permanently disabled. There's usually a momentary contact switch with a warning light. It would be trivial to replace it with a Arduino circuit that pulses a relay until the "start/stop off" indicator comes on. Cost to make, probably $20.

    26. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Incorrect. Welcome to capitalism 101. If it is to their advantage, as you insist, they are forced to respond. Otherwise someone else will fill the market segment.

      It amazes me how many people don't understand the most basics of economic theory.

    27. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by upl8n87447 · · Score: 3, Informative

      That's true. It also makes trucks very dangerous since the majority of drivers aren't in trucks. If a car is an accident with a truck, they will be on the opposite end of that equation and will have a much worse time during that accident.

      Then of course trucks block sight lines, making it much harder to see what's ahead. They take up more space. Are more sluggish to respond. And my personal favorite, have large tires and high backends that allow them to pickup things/rocks in the road and fling them at the cars behind them... since... you know.. there's no mudflap requirement for trucks.

      One of my least comfortable positions on the road is behind a pickup truck. I'd rather drive behind a semi with big fat mudflaps than a pickup truck / SUV / jeep without.

    28. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is, as far as I know, patently untrue. The emission standards in the EU are, I think, quite a bit higher.

    29. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This will simply put every other manufacturer, outside the US, at a huge advantage in the future.
      RIP, American car manufacturers.

    30. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Each time you think Americans have an ounce of salt in their brains you end up being disappointed.

    31. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Christian+Smith · · Score: 2

      US automakers have subsidiaries in quite a few non-US countries

      . . . but what are US countries . . . ? Besides the US itself, of course.

      Would Puerto Rico be a US country?

    32. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by bobby · · Score: 3

      Unfortunately fuel efficiency and emissions are often slightly at odds, depending on what you're trying to achieve. Higher compression ratios, more ignition advance, and/or leaner mixtures give better performance and efficiency, but cause more NOx, possibly more CO and HC.

      To function properly, catalytic converters need cycling- they intentionally cycle the engine from rich to lean. Not the best for mpg.

      Diesels have been a huge offender on our highways, and since they _finally_ forced them to be cleaner, they are much much better and we all breathe easier. And it turned out to be fairly easy. Idiots like VW only worsened things for diesels' reputation.

      But overall I agree that the car mfgrs. might hurt themselves in foreign markets, and it's up to them to compete in those markets. Foreign car makers have had to modify cars, or produce special models, or just can't sell certain models in the US, especially California.

    33. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      wAAAAAH! waaaaah! Big scary truck gonna hurt me in the vagina. waaah!

    34. Re: Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Type44Q · · Score: 1

      The physics of designing a fuel efficient engine (one designed to get the most miles for each drop of fuel) isn't too different than the physics of trying to get all the horsepower you can from a drop of fuel. We shall call the former "European physics" and the latter, well, it can remain nameless if that makes you feel better.

    35. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by omnichad · · Score: 1

      Sure, it's safer. If you're the one killing the other person. Drive a tank and run them over, I guess.

    36. Re: Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You cannot possibly that daft.

    37. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not really. Half the country drives large SUVs and pickup trucks. The whole the the USA is NOT the top 5 biggest liberal cities.
      If they can sell a supercharged V8 v10 or v12 version, it will open a new market segment.

      I have a nearly 15 year old full-size SUV. I haven't bought a new one, because the new model is an aluminum v6.

      I drove one on an icy road, and even with really good traction control, the turbo constantly and unpredictably kicking in... was making it very unsafe to drive in those conditions. I also really don't want aluminum, because it won't hold up to the ice, snow and salt... Not to mention how much more they cost to fix, and the lifespan of the turbo.

      The fuel economy was also barely better... I'd get a better improvement in my current truck if I could still easily get non-ethanol gas...

    38. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Joce640k · · Score: 1

      p=mv.

      Have they changed that? When I went to school it was p=mv^2.

      (ie. Velocity is the thing to watch out for, not mass).

      --
      No sig today...
    39. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Cyberax · · Score: 1

      Apparently, you've flunked the physics test. The portion of energy dissipated by an object is proportional to its mass. So if you have a 1 ton car collide with 4 ton car then 80% of energy will be dissipated by the 1 ton car.

    40. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Distortions · · Score: 1

      Yep. Most of the country drives large SUVs and pickup trucks. The whole the the USA is NOT the top 5 biggest liberal cities.
      If they can sell a supercharged V8 v10 or v12 version, it will open a new market segment.

      I have a nearly 15 year old full-size SUV. I haven't bought a new one, because the new model is an aluminum v6.

      I drove one on an icy road, and even with really good traction control, the turbo constantly and unpredictably kicking in... was making it very unsafe to drive in those conditions. I also really don't want aluminum, because it won't hold up to the ice, snow and salt... Not to mention how much more they cost to fix, and the lifespan of the turbo.

      The fuel economy was also barely better... I'd get a better improvement in my current truck if I could still easily get non-ethanol gas...

      --
      Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see.
    41. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Joce640k · · Score: 1

      "American" cars outside the US are often very different than those sold in the US.

      Yep, you have to look long and hard to find an "American" car in Europe. I see two or three of them per year.

      The biggest selling vehicle in the USA is the Ford F-series truck, I don't think I've ever even seen one over here.

      The cars sold by Ford over in Europe completely different models, made to European standards.

      --
      No sig today...
    42. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are you telling me that it is speed that kills? There are many here in Slashdot who swear they are safe when exceeding the posted speed limit.

    43. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Joce640k · · Score: 1

      I've never seen a Ford F-series here in Europe and the European Focus is a completely different car then the USA Focus.

      --
      No sig today...
    44. Re: Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Joce640k · · Score: 1

      I can possibly imagine that the main difference these days is in the engine management computer.

      --
      No sig today...
    45. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Joce640k · · Score: 1

      Start/Stop is obnoxious, period. Did you really need someone to tell you that? It'd be one thing if the feature could be perma-disabled, but that's not an option in any mainstream vehicle.

      FUD. It's a dashboard button or menu option in all the cars I've driven that have it.

      --
      No sig today...
    46. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Joce640k · · Score: 1

      Are you saying my 1 ton car can't possibly kill you if you're in a 4 ton car?

      --
      No sig today...
    47. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Cyberax · · Score: 1

      It obviously can, but with a lower probability.

    48. Re: Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      There are much better implementations of the ZF 9 speed (and other multi gear transmissions) than you are alluding to. I donâ(TM)t like a busy tranny but think we can agree the more cogs the better, unless you want a âoefour on the floorâ approach. I rented a Ford Edge with and eco boost engine and the lag was just shy of imperceptible. Take a look at the new Expedition fuel ratings (I swear I am not a Ford guy), but smaller displacement blown engines with multi gear transmissions do seem to be an improvement. Nothing fancy that the automakers have not already solved and being a larger importer of foreign vehicles, the US should be leading, not following here. Of course, your arguments hold merit it you like the weather to be warmer, wetter, and want to see our coasts get flooded more. There is nothing wrong with higher fuel economy standards, and the global auto industry has responded well to them.

    49. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Gojira+Shipi-Taro · · Score: 4, Funny

      That's

      Mueller
      Ain't
      Going
      Away

      --
      "Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my Presidency. I'm fucked."; ~ Donald J. Trump
    50. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Everything I don't like is the DNC"

      - Trumptards, 2018

    51. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Ferretman · · Score: 1

      > Only because a lot of cowards think that a behemoth is saaaaaaafer than a "normal" car

      Um, no. Because I live 5 miles back on a gravel road that rises 3000 feet from the highway to where I live. I use an SUV (used to have a pickup) to get back and forth because I kinda like getting back and forth.

      Try to view Reality through other's eyes once in a while.

      Ferret

      --
      Sic gorgiamus allos subjectatos nunc
    52. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by AutodidactLabrat · · Score: 1

      "Unsuccessful" by 2.86 million votes.
      Hmm, seems you lied

    53. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by AutodidactLabrat · · Score: 2

      Actually, rollovers demonstrate that the SUV's are MORE deadly

    54. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by rally2xs · · Score: 1

      If not relaxed, these fuel economy standards will require electric cars or hybrid cars whether the customer wants them, or in the case of electric care whether they are viable in the USA or not.

      The USA is huge, so we need cars capable of long ranges and quick recharges. 1st leg of my vacation a few weeks ago was about 800 miles. A few years ago, the same destination's 1st leg was 1100 miles, starting in Virginia and I slept in Texas the same night. Try that with the electrics available now. You try to prohibit the sale of the sort of car I need, that just means that I keep the car I have now, and repair the out of it for as long as it takes the electrics to catch up with its performance, which may be never. IOW, I ain't buyin' no electric until it meets my needs. (I drive these long distances rather than flying for several reasons, the main one being the TSA and airline nonsense - if the TSA wants to feel me up, or the airlines want to beat me up, they're going to have to chase me down at 80 mph on Interstate 10 to do it, I'm not showing up at an airport and volunteering for it...)

      I'm all for electrics when they're actually ready. When they do what I need them to, I'll be first in line. Why? Because, getting 3 - 4 miles per KwH, and with power here in Virginia coming it at 12.5 cents per KwH, driving an electric will be like driving my present car on about 95 cents per gallon gasoline. Plus, I won't need to get the timing belt changed ($1,100), the clutch changed ($2300), brakes as often ($400), and a series of oil changes at about $60 - $70 each (I use synthetic oil for the turbo...) And I saw recently an article on supercapacitors that promises / threatens to make electric cars viable with greater storage and faster charge times (10 minutes) than the current batteries, and yes, probably able to meet my needs. Build it, and they (I) will come.

      But passing some half-assed law saying 55 mpg isn't going to make it happen any faster, its just going to screw up the market. I just start repairing... and repairing... and repairing if I can't buy the car I need...

    55. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by fisted · · Score: 1

      Momentum != Energy.

      E = 1/2 * m * v^2

      p = m * v

      HTH

    56. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by rally2xs · · Score: 3, Informative

      No, not "only because." Another big reason is because of these new laws requiring child safety seats. Try getting your triplets into a regular car. Ain't happenin'. You need an SUV or van for all those huge child safety seats, esp. when you can't put any in the front because of the accursed air bag (I've NEVER been in a situation where an air bag would have done me the slightest bit of good, and I've been driving for 54 years.) So, you get kids, and want to go somewhere as a family all in the same vehicle, can you say "SUV?" I knew you could...

    57. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by sfcat · · Score: 1

      I'm all for electrics when they're actually ready. When they do what I need them to, I'll be first in line. Why? Because, getting 3 - 4 miles per KwH, and with power here in Virginia coming it at 12.5 cents per KwH, driving an electric will be like driving my present car on about 95 cents per gallon gasoline. Plus, I won't need to get the timing belt changed ($1,100), the clutch changed ($2300), brakes as often ($400), and a series of oil changes at about $60 - $70 each (I use synthetic oil for the turbo...) And I saw recently an article on supercapacitors that promises / threatens to make electric cars viable with greater storage and faster charge times (10 minutes) than the current batteries, and yes, probably able to meet my needs. Build it, and they (I) will come.

      But passing some half-assed law saying 55 mpg isn't going to make it happen any faster, its just going to screw up the market. I just start repairing... and repairing... and repairing if I can't buy the car I need...

      One of the weird parts of being an early EV adopter is how everyone else reacts to it. Many people stopped at first to ask questions but with one weird pattern. At the end no matter how I acted, they always gave some excuse for why they wouldn't get one. And this is in the bay area. I never asked them if they wanted one or not, but they always told me they couldn't get one for some weird reason each time. Never heard an actual valid issue except for apartment building refusing to allow EV charging (again usually for spurious reasons). With that experience, to you I say...

      So buy a fucking Volt (I've bought 2). They do everything you mentioned just fine. When the battery is exhausted, it switches to gas (its like Prius when its battery is drained). Or you could just keep wasting money and creating more pollution. You can't possibly claim EVs are not ready unless you are a long haul trucker (and even that's coming on-line right now). Try another excuse for why you still use an ICE as this one is no longer valid at all and hasn't been for the better part of a decade.

      --
      "Those that start by burning books, will end by burning men."
    58. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by fisted · · Score: 1

      That is not what 'permanent' means.

    59. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by fisted · · Score: 2

      I think start/stop is questionable at best. My car consumes .6L (that's .15 gallons) of gas per hour of idling. An hour of idling at traffic lights etc is a lot of start/stop cycles causing wear on the starter motor/magnet switch and all related moving part, as well as consuming significant juice from the battery that the alternator has to resupply (which means increased gas consumption while driving). I'm not sure whether it's a net positive or net negative, but I suppose even if it eventually saves you a negligible amount of energy, eventually the starter will need to be replaced which would completely dwarf the saved energy.

      Start/stop is popular because people don't think it through. Marketing knows that. Engineers implementing these systems probably get a good laugh out of it. Garages approve.

    60. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by rally2xs · · Score: 1

      "get rid of those burdensome regulations so companies can keep making money..."

      Hey, when (American) companies make money, then American workers make money, and prosperity increases. The more people beat up on (American) companes, the more Americans live in poverty. Poverty kills. While smoking will take up to 7 years off your life, living in poverty will take up to 10 years off your life. You freeze to death under a bridge while living in a refrigerator carton, or get attacked by criminals while under the bridge, or just can't afford to support yourself sufficiently to have health insurance that will allow you to get your cancer diagnosed early enough to have it excised, etc. Yeah, lets let American companies make money, so Americans can be prosperous, and live longer.

    61. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by rally2xs · · Score: 1

      Well, they can't. If they do, that car will necessarily cost more and probably perform less well, so customers will buy the car that costs less and performs better. So, if they make a "clean" car without such a law requiring it, their competitors will make a car that pleases customers more by being cheaper or running better, and the clean car maker will profit less.

      Yep, no company can make a "clean" anything if customers prefer the cheaper, better performing thing.

    62. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by rally2xs · · Score: 2

      I almost bought a Volt at one time. They were a little under-performing when compared to my Subaru WRX. The reason for my road trips is that I road rally with the Sports Car Club of America, and although road rallies are not the races you see on TV on regular roads, but instead more of a game of Simon Says done with cars at fairly low speeds, there are still some advantages to be had with a "quick" car. Even I didn't used to believe it, and considering the rallies I was running it didn't make sense, but the facts were that my driver and I tried for several years to win the championship with my Jeep Cherokee, and just couldn't. Then I bought a 2005 Subaru WRX and won the championship the next year. The quickness was the factor - you're looking for a turn, find an intersection you think is right and look down there and it says, "dead end", so have to speed up again suddenly because the checkpoint is down the road in the other direction and you have to get there "right now." The Subaru did "right now" much better than the Jeep. So we won the championship. We weren't any better at it than in the previous 4 years, it was the car. And the Volt would have been unlikely to win.

      Other consideration was the cargo carrying capacity of the Volt, I wanted something a little bigger with 4 doors.

      They make an electric I can use, I'll be right there...

    63. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 1

      You can get the front shitsacks (legally) turned off or even removed in such a situation.

    64. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > The USA is huge, so we need cars capable of long ranges and quick recharges. 1st leg of my vacation a few weeks ago was about 800 miles.

      Thanks for the explanation. Covering such distances certainly will still require some engineering advances. But where there's a will...

      > Because, getting 3 - 4 miles per KwH, and with power here in Virginia coming it at 12.5 cents per KwH, driving an electric will be like driving my present car on about 95 cents per gallon gasoline.

      I don't know the exact numbers since I'm not American. What I do know is: at one point in time, consumers pay x for a resource and the rest of the citizens pay y, which is the cost of several things associated with the resource use. In the case of gasoline, "y" encompasses all the costs arising from pollution, cleaning it (if possible) and diseases that it might cause in all citizens (an "externality", in Economics terminology).

      But to the consumer the resource (gas, in our example) appears to cost only x -- it's hard to see the whole of medical expenses by those affected by pollution.

      One day, though, reality will come up and prices will be adjusted to a more fair price, one that makes the consumer pay x+y to cover the costs imposed on others. It's up to each individual to decide whether to enjoy the current low prices or act conservatively and start considering the real cost of things.

      > But passing some half-assed law saying 55 mpg isn't going to make it happen any faster

      At least one car maker offers a hybrid and claims it can do 55mpg (I don't mention, that would be an ad), but that is not exactly the point, IMHO.

      The way I see it, hybrids mean a shortcut to a cleaner future. If they allow both refueling and recharging, it would be possible -- at least in urban settings -- to go electric only and to use gas over longer distances. Seems like a win-win to me.

    65. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Cederic · · Score: 2

      At any given speed I would rather be in a smaller more maneuverable car.

      However, the stats suggest that drivers of cheap SUVs die less than drivers of cheap saloon cars: http://www.iihs.org/iihs/topic...
      (Drivers of luxury cars are pretty safe, whatever their vehicle style).

    66. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Cederic · · Score: 1

      There's no reason for it to be a detriment to driving.

      You reach the junction, come to a brief halt, identify the gap in the traffic and accelerate smoothly into it, safely coming up to speed without forcing anybody else to slow down.

      Unless your fucking engine switched off when you came to a stop, leaving you sat there for half a second waiting for your car to start fucking moving.

      There's a reason I disable stop/start at certain roundabouts on my commute. It's actually dangerous.

    67. Re: Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Have you ever considered the environmental impact of mining the rare earth metals used in your car's batteries?

      No? Didn't think so. Then again, most west coast liberals don't consider the impact of switching iPhones every damned year either.

      (Me: drives efficient gas car that I bought in part because it's efficient. Current phone is a Note 8. Previous phone was a Note 4. I actually think about stuff and its impact rather than virtue signal.)

    68. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by DigiShaman · · Score: 2

      Most likely this is allow greater flexibility to the CAFE standard. So while it eases restrictions on heavier cars, in reality, this would be a broad improvement in performance (more HP) across the fleet. That translates into more competitive offerings to the overseas market.

      IC engine tech has come a long way in the last 10 years alone. They've become extremely efficient for what they do; primarily thanks to advancements in tooling and manufacturing capabilities.

      Yes, the automotive automotive industry could create bigger SUVs (up to a certain point) with more steel and thus be heavier. It also adds to the overall cost in materials. This would reduce MPG. But most consumers don't want a heavy car for the sake of being heavy. They want versatility. In addition, consumers would rather choose more horse power rather than more mass if having to choose between the two in sacrificing MPG.

      --
      Life is not for the lazy.
    69. Re: Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, it would just mean that cars would sell for more in Commiefornia because of the extra emissions package.

    70. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Other countries already have different emissions and safety standards, and get different versions of the cars accordingly. Really the only question will be which models the manufacturers will decide to keep making as just the CA emissions version for the entire country, (economy of scale) and which models will get non-CA versions in some states. I'm guessing the latter will be mostly pickups.

    71. Re: Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      On paper a Volt might be underwhelming in the 0-60 but speaking from experience it is extremely zippy. It's FWD though, so you need to pull it through sharp corners instead of pushing it, and that feels less effective.

    72. Re: Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What is this nonsense comparing a rally car vs a electric hybrid? I bet the explorer you looked at had more leg room too.

    73. Re: Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you would, you'd know how you'd meet your end.

      Several of my motorcyclist friends died and were maimed, and during the time I owned a light 2 seater it tried to kill me twice by performing undemanded pirouettes on the highway, something none of my other cars has ever done.

    74. Re: Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Is your point that you did 1100 miles in one day? Prob took you about 17 to 20 hours of driving to do that; assuming you only risk other peopleâ(TM)s lives by driving to exhaustion and not also by speeding. Or did you break that up over a few days and what you meant is you need a car that can go 300 miles without stopping? Most people donâ(TM)t need that distance in a car because most people donâ(TM)t get felt up by the tsa.

    75. Re: Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My current (TMS) and previous (Volt) cars are American, and one before (Z3) was assembled there. Mustangs also seem to be quite a hit. If there were a larger offering American cars would sell well, but they are deliberately kept out of the EU market through specific regulations designed to do so.

    76. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by ravenshrike · · Score: 1

      The regulations in question approach and in the case of heavy duty trucks surpass the theoretical limits of what is possible with an ICE engine. They were never about pollution and all about eliminating internal combustion vehicles entirely.

    77. Re: Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So basically you're compensating for poor driving skills by buying a heavier vehicle. Makes sense

    78. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Barsteward · · Score: 1

      and there are plenty of those that drink and drive who say they drive better after a few drinks

      --
      "The hands that help are better far than lips that pray." - Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899)
    79. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Barsteward · · Score: 1

      he should then stop moaning about not many USA built cars being sold in the EU.

      --
      "The hands that help are better far than lips that pray." - Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899)
    80. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I actually don't want to drive a truck, but I drive a Dodge Durango because of the size. I despise small cars and feeling cramped but because of the crap CAFE standards no one makes anything but small cars today. There are no cars like the old Mercury Grand Marquis I owned years back. Large, spacious, V8 engine, plenty of power on the freeway, safe in a collision and comfortable for long drives.

      Today all cars are tiny, paper thin copies of each other. Most of the SUVs all look basically exactly the same as well, nothing differentiates them from each other but the model emblem and the cost.

      What we have today is a homogeneous collection of vehicles that all look basically the same because there's few ways to achieve the required standards. So you can't feel like you're driving a land yacht any longer as none are available, and if you don't want to drive a pickup truck, then you're left with a cookie-cutter SUV.

      Hell, look at the crap they are trying to sell as modern muscle cars like the new Camaro or Dodge Charger. Smaller, less powerful garbage cars not worthy of the label muscle car.

      We lost part of our soul as Americans when we lost the ability to choose the car we wanted. As long as we were willing to pay the cost of the fuel it took to drive it we should be able to own it.

      If I want to buy a V8 Chevy Bel Aire or Cadillac Coupe de Ville or Grand Marquis and it only gets 20 miles to the gallon then I should be able to buy such a vehicle.

    81. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by blogagog · · Score: 1

      Car companies want to sell cars. They don't need the government forcing them to build cars to specifications - many of which customers do not desire. If a customer wants a specific type of car, you can bet car companies will do their best to create it. Regulations only constrain their ability to do so while raising prices to the consumer.

    82. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Cars belching exhaust fumes into the atmosphere while stopped at traffic lights is obnoxious, period.

      Start/Stop is just mildly annoying. In a manual, start/stop only comes on when in neutral and the clutch not pressed, making it quite easy to control as you can keep the clutch pressed when you don't want it. I any case the implementations I've used restart the engine sufficiently quickly for it not to be an impediment to pulling away.

    83. Re: Disadvantage US manufacturers? by kurkosdr · · Score: 1

      It will make sure cars stay cheap for the Average Joe though. Wake me up when hybrids and electrics cost $20.000. No matter what sites like Wired say, hybrids and electrics are still a niche because of their cost, and regulators want to force-feed this niche to the public for negligible CO2 reductions.

    84. Re: Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >virtue signal

      It's strange how people who use this term think it only applies in one direction in the arguments they propose.

    85. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Of the two major US car companies, one is in the process of selling and winding down most of its operations outside North America, and the other one mostly sells locally developed cars in overseas markets because US models wouldn't be competitive anyway. I doubt regulation in the US would matter much to them outside their home market, where other companies have to play by the same rules anyway.

    86. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by houghi · · Score: 1

      So the SUV market is made for triplets? I really doubt that. You do know what the S in SUV stand for, right? From wikipedia : Sport-utility (vehicle), SUV or sport-ute is an automotive classification, typically a kind of station wagon / estate car with off-road vehicle features like raised ground clearance and ruggedness, and available four-wheel drive.

      I see nothing that talks about having triplets in the car.

      What you need is not a SUV. What you are talking about is a MOV or better known as a minivan in the US.

      I personally would rather drive a SUV than a minivan. I also do not lie to myself and find excuses for it. I would love to have a Toyota HZJ78, but I can not afford one and they are not sold where I live. And no triplet under the age of 18 will ever get in that car once I own it.

       

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
    87. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Start/stop systems usually only switch of the engine when you switch to neutral, not when simply declutched, as most people would do when waiting at an intersection or roundabout.

    88. Re: Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He is absolutely right.

      Doesn't it feel good to champion some cause. You may someday believe it too!

    89. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Drivers of luxury cars get to choose their schedule better.
      They aren't compelled by employee handbook rules to drive at very dangerous times of the day to "arrive on-time" (before sunrise, inclement weather like fog and snow and ice and wind, brutal cold snaps, into the sunset).

      Luxury car owner looks out the window, emails: "I'll be out at a customer site today, call me anytime".

    90. Re: Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thanks for your input.

    91. Re: Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I agree. I need a bigger car than electrics because I pick up my kids from soccer.... if I get into an accident, I want to be sure that we come out of it less worse off... because the bigger car always wins.... I drive an SUV now, but I would buy a semi to drive my kids if it was more affordable.... I would buy a electric semi if I can get it cheaper than my SUV.

      You know ... I donâ(TM)t like dying....

    92. Re: Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Completely!

      Just imagine one day itâ(TM)s you and me in an accident... real bad one.... as bad as you can imagine....

      Letâ(TM)s say accident was completely my fault...

      I drive an SUV and you drive a miata.

      Now tell me what matters....

      Itâ(TM)s not your driving skills because no matter how good you are you can not compensate for others like me on the road ... what matters is pretty much that I drive and SUV and you drive a Miata .... and I survived and you died.

    93. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by lsatenstein · · Score: 1

      Surely this change in regulation would do more to hurt US car companies that help them? If they don't design and build for efficiency, then surely this would limit their ability to export to any market that cares about efficiency or where fuel costs are already high? This feels like another short term action, just like trying to protect the coal industry, that will end up hurting more in the long run, than doing any real good.

      As Canada and other countries are committed to the Paris accords, it will most likey be that American cars that don't meet the current and proposed targets for polution will not be allowed to be sold in those countries. I can see Kia, Honda, Toyota, and a whole slew of foreign companies meeting California's targets.
        Bye bye Ford, Chrysler and GM. Sorry your cars are not selling. But don't worry, your employees will find other jobs after the government offers retraining. Perhaps the future laid off employees could transition to IT.

      --
      Leslie Satenstein Montreal Quebec Canada
    94. Re: Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Ogive17 · · Score: 1

      Do you avoid the German companies for lying?

      --
      "Action without philosophy is a lethal weapon; philosophy without action is worthless."
    95. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > I can grasp what non-US countries are . . .
      > . . . but what are US countries . . . ? Besides the US itself, of course.

      Obviously you haven't grasped what 'non-US countries' are. They are 'countries that are not the US'. You seem to have read this wrongly as 'non US-countries'.

    96. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by AutodidactLabrat · · Score: 1

      Ohhh boy. U.L. did the math way back in 2004.
      Found overall injury and death rates between SUV's and compacts (Not sub-compacts) to be comparable, with impact avoidance / impact resistance / rollover protection compensating for one another.

    97. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by AutodidactLabrat · · Score: 1

      So, an SUV needs 32 bhp to maintain 75 mph on the freeway.
      WHY does anyone need 260 bhp again?
      Oh, right, TOO MUCH STEEL.

    98. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Considering the average American family has about 2 kids I call bullshit

    99. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Midnight+Thunder · · Score: 1

      Car companies want to sell cars. They don't need the government forcing them to build cars to specifications - many of which customers do not desire. If a customer wants a specific type of car, you can bet car companies will do their best to create it. Regulations only constrain their ability to do so while raising prices to the consumer.

      You may want to look at the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, since it probably requires a number of things that you take for granted:

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

      Also, crash safety is also a federally regulated requirement. I am sure many executives would have been okay not getting anywhere near them, if it they weren't required, since after all that's the driver's fault? /s

      --
      Jumpstart the tartan drive.
    100. Re: Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A Toyota RAV4 with the 3.5l V6 cranks out 269HP. It is a sleeper! Wickedly quick for an SUV. Nothing else compared in its class.

    101. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by werepants · · Score: 1

      Armchair physics aside, the actual numbers say that trucks and SUVs aren't any safer than midsize sedans:
      https://www.accessmagazine.org...

      Ultra-compacts are a bit less safe, than larger cars, yes. But the only real difference between an SUV and a midsize or larger car from a safety perspective is that while an SUV or truck doesn't make you any safer than a car would, it is far more likely to kill anybody you collide with.

    102. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by werepants · · Score: 1

      This is an old argument, going back to Newton and Leibniz. Newton favored momentum (p=mv), Leibniz favored what we now call kinetic energy (KE = 1/2mv^2). Turns out that they were each right, in their own way - there are scenarios (like some types of collisions) where momentum is conserved, and so is useful for various calculations, but it turns out that energy is one of the most fundamental quantities in all of physics, and governs the operation of everything in the universe.

    103. Re: Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > Do you avoid the German companies for lying?

      I'll assume you're responding to my comment. /. -- for all its complex javascript -- does not work so well as to allow us to easily browse the comments. It's a clear case of "less is more".

      Now, I don't boycott any company specifically for lying. I would boycott a company that has lied about the product they sold to me, but not if the Director says he does not eat dogs when he actually like a dog dish he learned in some Oriental place.

      If you're talking about a company which has been on the news about faking nice emission results, I've been considering a car of their make in my last purchases -- but they simply charge too much. Apparently, they think their brand adds some intangible value to their product. Since I cannot move a car on such intangible things, we regularly come to a point where they want more money than what I think they deserve. It does not help them that other makers offer more interesting prices for similar products.

      But, you see, I do get upset (a lot) when a nation promotes war to kill bad guys and in the process kill nice 15 y.o. girls. And after I told them not to do it because the s* would hit the fan. (Same words to Russia, BTW)

      I cannot do anything to prevent that; but at least I can prevent my money from contributing to it.

      This way of acting is much, much worse than lying.

      (PS: But that German maker cars all have the same looks, so it's another reason to avoid them).

    104. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by RockDoctor · · Score: 1
      Making a modification like that to your car's electronic control systems is nearly certain to void your insurance. You know - the bit of the form where you have to declare if you have made any significant changes to the vehicle from the manufacturer-supplied model. You could make an argument for replacing the tyres with a different brand but same dimensions and speed rating. But if you changed the tyre width or aspect ratio, you'd probably find your insurance voided when you make a claim. So, you're now charged with driving without insurance, in addition to whatever the original accident was.

      If you don't like it, buy a different vehicle without that feature. If you can't find a vehicle you like, you have the complete freedom to design and build your own. And get it insured if you want to drive on public roads.

      (Actually, I find the start-stop a *little* annoying too. But since I long ago got into the habit of depressing the clutch before starting the engine (a requirement in Norway - the first foreign country I drove in, 3 months after getting my licence), it took minutes - whole minutes ! - to get used to. We probably won't be buying another VW, but that won't be a significant reason.)

      --
      Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
    105. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by RockDoctor · · Score: 1

      You reach the junction, come to a brief halt, identify the gap in the traffic and accelerate smoothly into it, safely coming up to speed without forcing anybody else to slow down.

      ... which will require at least one, if not two, gear changes. So you operate the clutch twice. And on my car (well, the wife's, practically ; I rarely drive the thing), operating the clutch will re-start the engine before you come back up to the bite point.

      leaving you sat there for half a second waiting for your car to start fucking moving.

      So? Apart from making your penis smaller, what hazard is a stationary vehicle? Or are you afraid of being rear-ended by the idiot behind? You do have to assume a certain degree of competence in other drivers - that's what the tests are for (and I've long advocated for compulsory loss of driving licence and compulsory re-passing of the new driver's exam - though I'd listen to arguments over whether it should be at 5 year or 10 year intervals).

      --
      Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
    106. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by Cederic · · Score: 1

      you operate the clutch twice. And on my car (well, the wife's, practically ; I rarely drive the thing), operating the clutch will re-start the engine

      I drive an automatic so I don't manually operate the clutch.

      what hazard is a stationary vehicle

      None. The hazard is entering the stream of traffic half a second late because the fucking engine had to start, thus causing you to obstruct a car coming one way and then potentially further obstructing cars coming the other way.

      Instead of a safe efficient manoeuvre you've just risked multiple accidents.

      But nice that you think it's all about penises and not safe driving. Says a lot about you, that does.

    107. Re: Disadvantage US manufacturers? by mink · · Score: 1

      I own a 2002 Prius and have put over 330K miles on it. I bought it for the tech at the time and not to save the environment.
      Still has the original battery pack. Hybrid side of the system has been rock solid all this time.
      Explain why you think we have to replace the batteries every two years like they are in a cellular phone?
      Hybrid'd have excellent charge management systems that greatly extend battery life.

      --
      Well I've wrestled with reality for thirty five years doctor, and I'm happy to say I finally won out over it.
    108. Re:Disadvantage US manufacturers? by fisted · · Score: 1

      Making a modification like that to your car's electronic control systems is nearly certain to void your insurance.

      Who, besides you, is talking about making a modification to anyone's car's electronic control systems?

      You know, [...]

      Yeah I know what insurance is.

      [goes on and on and on]

      Yes, whatever. Why are you telling me that?

  2. Victors by Jodka · · Score: 0, Troll

    from the /. summary:

    The Trump administration is expected to launch an effort in coming days to weaken greenhouse gas emissions and fuel economy standards for automobiles, handing a victory to car manufacturers...

    It is a victory for consumers, who would otherwise be forced to pay much higher prices for automobiles.

    The extreme warming predictions have proven wrong. We are heading into a solar grand minimum. The only people who need to worry about global warming are the alarmists who have staked their careers on it.

    --
    Ceci n'est pas une signature.
    1. Re:Victors by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 2

      Solar grand minimum just delays the problem until the next solar cycle. It doesn't go away.

      Plus, oil has a limited supply. The goal should be to use it efficiently and eventually move to other tech for transportation. Leave the remaining oil for chemical processes that actually require it.

    2. Re:Victors by Bert64 · · Score: 1

      Strict emissions rules have resulted in companies cheating (eg VW)...
      It results in higher prices for cars..
      It has resulted in various other ways to game the system - eg there are rules on CO2 emissions, but no rules on emission of other things so cars now generate less CO2 and more things which aren't so heavily regulated, which are potentially worse for both health and the environment.

      I don't drive much, maybe 1000 miles per year... I have an old car which is not terribly efficient, if i were to replace it today with the most efficient car currently available, how many miles would i have to drive before the reduced fuel consumption compensated for the extra energy used to actually build the car?

      --
      http://spamdecoy.net - free throwaway anonymous email - avoid spam!
    3. Re:Victors by PopeRatzo · · Score: 5, Informative

      It is a victory for consumers, who would otherwise be forced to pay much higher prices for automobiles.

      In the spirit of Good Friday, I'm not going to call you a dumb sonofabitch.

      http://time.com/money/4702421/...

      The extreme warming predictions have proven wrong. We are heading into a solar grand minimum. The only people who need to worry about global warming are the alarmists who have staked their careers on it.

      OK, you're a dumb sonofabitch.

      https://www.giss.nasa.gov/rese...

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    4. Re:Victors by tim620 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You are free to believe whatever you want. However, we all need to worry about global warming. It is really happening and is really man-man. The science is correct. I tend to believe the scientists who have studied this for many years, over conservative politicians and talk show hosts.

    5. Re:Victors by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 1

      Yep, that's an argument for you to keep the old car as long as you can -- energy costs are a large part of making any consumer good. Thus, government policy should encourage durability and discourage planned obsolescence.

    6. Re:Victors by will_die · · Score: 1, Informative

      If it was a real issue you would not be a using a computer, if it was a real issue the people getting paid to push it would not be traveling around in private planes, if it was a real issue the people who say it is an issue would at least do minimum things like volunteer recycling.
      All of those are not being done, so really how much it global warming an actual concern?

    7. Re:Victors by tim620 · · Score: 1

      Just because it is a real issue, doesn't mean we need to revert to stone-age technology. We should be innovating and getting off of fossil fuels as soon as possible. Very few people are traveling the world in private planes to "push it", but they are the ones who make the news. i.e. just because some people don't practice what they preach, doesn't mean the issue isn't real and that it isn't a large concern for our society. P.S. I do more than the "minimum things" :-)

    8. Re:Victors by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      If it was a real issue you would not be a using a computer, if it was a real issue the people getting paid to push it would not be traveling around in private planes, if it was a real issue the people who say it is an issue would at least do minimum things like volunteer recycling.

      All of those are not being done, so really how much it global warming an actual concern?

      Ah yes, "whataboutism" at its finest. From Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whataboutism):

      Whataboutism (also known as whataboutery) is a variant of the tu quoque logical fallacy that attempts to discredit an opponent's position by charging them with hypocrisy without directly refuting or disproving their argument, which is particularly associated with Soviet and Russian propaganda. When criticisms were leveled at the Soviet Union, the Soviet response would be "What about..." followed by an event in the Western world.

      And yes, I do more than my fair share (e.g., practice reduce/reuse/recycle, in that order, solar panels, bicycle, vegetarian, be involved in politics, and try to use my career as an engineer to make positive changes.)

    9. Re:Victors by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Global warming man-made by adjusting the measurements, because the raw un-adjusted temperature data says there isn't any warming.

      https://realclimatescience.com/2018/03/noaa-data-tampering-approaching-2-5-degrees/#comment-86445

      https://realclimatescience.com/2017/02/nasa-noaa-climate-data-is-fake-data/

    10. Re:Victors by upl8n87447 · · Score: 1

      It seems Leonardo DiCaprio, who differs from most in that he's filthy rich, represents all human beings that are concerned with the environment.

    11. Re:Victors by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Close. It's a victory for car users, whose pollution will be further subsidized by everyone.

      I wonder if this is what'll tip me into getting a mid-life-crisis muscle car. I'll drive around in a big hemi Challenger or something, and all the rest of you people (instead of me, yay!!!) will pay for the higher medical bills this causes to everyone, pay to move cities to higher ground, pay higher food bills to fund farmers' adaptations what's the new crop for their land, etc. My externalities will be your expense.

      Thank you, liberals! I used to have to pay for my life, but when you people voted for Trump, you stepped up to help fund all my crazy, selfish dreams at public expense. That was so nice of you. I don't know what I'd do without your pollution subsidies; I'd probably have to start acting like a responsible adult or something. Ewwww!! Fuck Obama and all the rest of the (relative) conservatives!

    12. Re:Victors by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have little doubt that most climate scientists are acting in good faith, but the many zealots hawking "solutions" to the problem are not doing the cause any favors. Their primary goal appears to be killing nuclear plants, and inhibiting growth of this invaluable zero-carbon energy source. Working to replace nuclear with gas and limit our available tools exposes the hypocrisy of these self-styled "environmentalists", and calls into question their motivations.

      They keep the focus on installing "renewable" capacity, and selling us on the 100% "renewable" dream; never on their progress in lowering carbon emissions, which has been uninspiring. We should be objectively examining the results of our efforts, and not asking "can it be done", but "what is the most effective strategy". Few places have sustained large-scale efforts, but the facts speak for themselves. See the real-time electric power and carbon intensity of Germany, France, Ontario, and Sweden.

    13. Re:Victors by sexconker · · Score: 1, Offtopic

      It's not a logical fallacy to point out hypocrisy, bigger problems, or other shit that in turn show the point of some retard to be stupid or moot.

      If your point is that guns are dangerous, and I tell you that cars and alcohol and hospitals are more dangerous, you don't get to call "whataboutism" like some schoolyard "nuh-uh" retort that magically enshrines your bullshit as unassailable.
      People crying about "whataboutism" are typically actually crying about someone poking holes in their claims, pointing out how dumb they are, etc.

    14. Re:Victors by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      OK, you're a dumb sonofabitch.

      Looks like Jodka triggered another snowflake.

    15. Re:Victors by Kohath · · Score: 0

      Count me as 100% not worried about it. Even if it turns out to be a big problem instead of a big exaggeration, free people always find a way to solve problems and prosper.

    16. Re:Victors by Distortions · · Score: 1

      That all great, but for some applications there aren't economical solutions.

      I drive a full-size SUV, and sometimes a transit van for my (freelance) work.
      No one is making (or will be any time soon) an electric vehicle that are affordable in that size range.
      Even IF they could, range, cold weather issues and battery lifespan would all still be a huge issue for me.
      I regularly drive in off-road winter conditions, in sub-zero temperatures... and need the cargo space and range of an ICE.

      I don't even want to think about how a lithium battery would perform in -20-30F temperatures after 15 years and 200k miles... on steep grades, with snow tires on a 200-300 mile round trip.

      The turbo V6 versions have drawbacks, and don't really get better mileage in the real world.
      My current 15-year-old SUV gets within 1 or 2 mpg of the v6 turbo, and that's on crap menthol gas.

      --
      Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see.
    17. Re:Victors by dryeo · · Score: 2

      One of the logical fallacies is your using regulated things to argue that something shouldn't be regulated. Hospital's are highly regulated with most workers needing various training and licenses as well as regulations on cleanliness and such, which have made them much safer. Cars are highly regulated, with enforced safety features, rules about operating such as seat belts and drivers are licensed, this has made cars much safer over the years as well as saving numerous life's due to cleaner emissions which have also been regulated.
      You seem to be saying that given the fact that people still die in hospitals and automobiles, we don't have to regulate guns, not even regulating a safety, plus we don't have to ensure that people have any training in using firearms and anyone should be free to buy them.
      Good example of how whataboutism works

      --
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_totalitarianism
    18. Re:Victors by Kneo24 · · Score: 1

      Let's not pretend firearms aren't regulated, as many states do regulate them.

    19. Re:Victors by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

      "whataboutism" is a dog whistle.

      It means somebody is secretly a smarmy fuck.

    20. Re:Victors by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It's not a logical fallacy to point out hypocrisy, bigger problems, or other shit that in turn show the point of some retard to be stupid or moot.

      If your point is that guns are dangerous, and I tell you that cars and alcohol and hospitals are more dangerous, you don't get to call "whataboutism" like some schoolyard "nuh-uh" retort that magically enshrines your bullshit as unassailable.

      Yes, that's also an excellent example of whataboutism. You seem to think that your retort about cars, alcohol, and hospitals is somehow a reason to shut up about the dangers of uncontrolled gun possession. It is not. Uncontrolled gun possession is still irresponsible, and you haven't said anything to refute that. You're just trying to change the subject.

      People crying about "whataboutism" are typically actually crying about someone poking holes in their claims, pointing out how dumb they are, etc.

      No, they are typically crying about somebody who thinks or pretends to think that whataboutism pokes a hole in their claims, whereas in reality it does not; it is just an attempt at deflection.

    21. Re:Victors by jemmyw · · Score: 1

      That doesn't make sense. Just because people are hypocrites and also live in the modern world where its not usually possible to avoid these behaviours doesn't mean the problem does not exist. It's still a real issue.

      It'd still be a real issue if we didn't know anything about it. We do know about it, we're just not (seriously) doing anything about it.

    22. Re:Victors by Barsteward · · Score: 1

      "Looks like Jodka triggered another snowflake." - says the snowflake posting as an AC

      --
      "The hands that help are better far than lips that pray." - Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899)
    23. Re:Victors by Barsteward · · Score: 1

      lets not pretend that firearms are regulated to prevent idiots getting and using them to kill unarmed people

      --
      "The hands that help are better far than lips that pray." - Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899)
    24. Re:Victors by Barsteward · · Score: 1

      so you its upto everyone else to do something while you sit on your hands selfishly adding to the problems.

      --
      "The hands that help are better far than lips that pray." - Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899)
    25. Re:Victors by Kohath · · Score: 1

      It’s your religion, not mine.

    26. Re:Victors by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ford, Renault, Mitsubishi, Suzuki, Toyota and probably quite a few others were cheating long before emissions rules got strict. People will cheat if it helps them and if they think they can get away with it. Especially when they have found out the competition does it too. The possibility of cheating should never be an excuse not to set standards in the first place.

    27. Re:Victors by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > The extreme warming predictions have proven wrong. We are heading into a solar grand minimum.

      Even if so, and that's granting a hell of a lot, ocean acidification is a thing on top of the thermal effects from more CO2 in the atmosphere. It's not a good thing either.

  3. Burden won't change by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Scott Pruitt should know other parts of the world are moving forward on this and companies like Ford and GM will have to to meet them no matter what the laws are in the US.

    1. Re:Burden won't change by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Of course they have to make whatever changes are required for the foreign market, but they can keep selling the cheaper models here. It would be silly to adhere only to the most expensive requirements on all vehicles they manufacture worldwide.

  4. CAFE standards by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 4, Insightful

    CAFE (Corp Average Fuel Economy) standards were always a silly way of doing things, since they specified average economy within a given class of vehicle. Car, truck, later there were more categories based on wheelbase and width. It encouraged automakers to make more "trucks" that were used as cars, actually lowering real-life average fuel economy for the cars on US roads.

    Better solution would be to tax fuel at a fairly high rate and let the markets decide what to buy. Use the tax money to subsidize clean (electric) transport like electric cars and trains, roll out charging stations, encourage solar installation, maybe even subsidize the (relatively clean compared to fossil fuels) nuclear power industry.

    1. Re: CAFE standards by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why should we have to subsidize a billion dollar industry?

      Too big to fail I guess.

    2. Re:CAFE standards by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Government should not be in the business of picking winners and losers in this fashion. Typical liberal BS is to tax and subsidize and tell everyone how their money should be spent. The reality is we should let the market forces decide the winner based on what is most effective and provides the most 'bang for the buck.' If clean energy vehicles are a better deal, they will win without the government putting their thumb on the scale.

    3. Re:CAFE standards by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 1

      US government has been picking winners and losers since the 60s. See also: the US's unhealthy willingness to go on military homicide sprees (aka wars) to preserve access to oil, and to help stabilize oil-rich Middle Eastern "allies" like the Saudis and Kuwaitis.

      If all of the money spend on Middle Eastern homicide sprees over the past 50 years were spend on rolling out electric vehicles and the power generation/delivery structure for them, we wouldn't be driving gassers today.

    4. Re:CAFE standards by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't forget that small trucks count as cars, and the emissions standards made it impracticable or impossible to sell small trucks with an engine capable of carrying a reasonable load. Because of this, everyone who wanted to buy a small fuel-efficient truck had to either buy an older used model, that lacked modern emissions control systems, or a newer larger truck that isn't as fuel efficient.

      Either way it is an increase in emissions, brought on by emissions-control regulations.

    5. Re:CAFE standards by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 1

      Nissan Frontier is 4-cyl and is tow-rated for 5000 lb with a highway economy of 23 mpg. Small trucks work just fine.

    6. Re: CAFE standards by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Democrat voting UAW Union member jobs and Democrat run cites and states. (See Detroit)

    7. Re:CAFE standards by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Yes and no. Trucks, SUVs, crossovers, and vans were finally included in CAFE by legislation passed by the Bush admin, but they use a "vehicle footprint" formula to adjust their ratings. Despite that, only passenger cars are included for the purposes of the federal "gas guzzler" tax. Everything else is excluded.

      Small trucks are kept out of the US market by a 25% tariff known as the "Chicken Tax". Many of these available in other markets will get about 35mpg and can carry 1500 pounds of payload. Because the US has a protected truck market, the manufacturers have nice fat profit margins on trucks and gives them another reason to promote them more than their other vehicles. It's fucking ridiculous.

    8. Re:CAFE standards by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Better solution would be to tax fuel at a fairly high rate and let the markets decide what to buy.

      Yes, and then give the money back to the people on a per-person basis. Make the whole thing revenue-neutral. Fuel costs more but you get a payment every month. For most people, it will break even or they'll be ahead. But they will still face economic pressure to pollute less.

    9. Re:CAFE standards by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If the money went to the desired goal, sure. It never does.
      Euros tax the crap out of everything, from VATs to gas taxes, basically screwing the little guy, what did they get? Dieselgate, gassed monkeys and far worse air quality than the US. The tax and regulate mentality made it happen.

      People like Tesla and tech advances will provide better alternatives that work for people, who will choose them because they work. As far as mandating 55 MPG? We might as well mandate time machines.

    10. Re: CAFE standards by Dutchmaan · · Score: 1

      Hey genius... you ALREADY DO subsidize the oil industry!!!!

      So glad you're against that!

    11. Re:CAFE standards by toddestan · · Score: 1

      The Nissan Frontier is only small relative to the size of other new trucks on the market - historically it would be considered mid-sized. It has grown significantly larger now than it was 15 years ago, when it was more the size of small trucks like the Ford Ranger, Mazda B-Series, Chevy S10, all of which have been discontinued. And of course back in the 70's - 80's you had even smaller compact trucks, like the Ford Courier, Chevy LUV, Dodge Rampage, Subaru Brat, or the VW Rabbit Pickup - none of which have a modern equivalent you can buy (in the US).

      It's a bit of a shame that trucks like that are so difficult to sell under the current rules. I wouldn't mind a truck, but the mid-sized trucks now are almost the size of the full-sized trucks from 30 years ago, and full-sized trucks are just gigantic now.

  5. MAGA baby by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Make America Grungy Again

  6. Naturally This Will Upset People Because Reasons by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The important line from the article is

    "The United States and Canada are the only major nations that have adopted mandatory emissions standards through 2025. The European Union has only recently proposed standards for 2025 and 2030, while China has only started to work on standards for those years."

    Only the US and Canada are doing this. Why handicap ourselves in a global market when no one else is doing it at all?

  7. Corporate benfactors... by bosef1 · · Score: 2

    "EPA Prepares To Roll Back Rules Requiring Cars To Be Cleaner..."

    Armor All and Simoniz are going be very upset about this.

  8. If Obama had found the cure for cancer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I swear to God, if Obama had found the cure for cancer, these f.cking trumptards would repell it, and in a sickening display of intellectual travesty, they would somehow claim that this is a Good Thing (tm).

    Seriously, you can't be more ideological than this. Way more than those so called leftist SJWs they condemn and whine about all the time.

    Trumptards are hell-bent on bringing society back to the dark ages, when humanity basically acted like a cancer of the planet. And they're proud of it.

    1. Re: If Obama had found the cure for cancer by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 1, Informative

      Actually, Obamacare/ACA plans are severely restricted from rating people for anything other than 3 factors:
      (1) Age.
      (2) County of residence.
      (3) Smoking status.

      In any case, the ratio between highest rate and lowest rate can't exceed 3:1 in a given state. Lower in some states that set their own limits -- NY state is 1:1.

      If anything, Obamacare has made insurance LESS intrusive on private lives.

    2. Re: If Obama had found the cure for cancer by Brett+Buck · · Score: 1, Troll

      Moreover, this "debate" is like most others - the so-called champions of science have long since abandoned any attempt to convince people about their theories or prove them - and instead simply want to decide amongst themselves and then coerce everyone else by force of law to go along. That's the left's way - have elite chosen few (in this case, with *no claim to credentials whatsoever* like a morbidly obese failed politician) simply decide what to do, everyone else be damned, freedom or independence be damned, everyone is stupid but me so I will just do what I feel like doing. Unchecked, it *always*, repeat, *always* results in totalitarian government. It must.

    3. Re: If Obama had found the cure for cancer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Except now these Obamacare plans are shit compared to pre obama care plans. About all they will cover before deductibles are met are routine checkups. You're going to be about 10K in the hole before any of these plans are going to help you for anything other than routine check ups or ongoing prescription costs.

      How can these plans that are forced to cover just about anyone do it? By setting deductibles so high as to minimize their risk. The plans still fuck over those who couldn't afford insurance before obamacare. and they fuck over everyone else with the high deductibles. All the poor libtards are like YAY i got insurance now!!! Good luck coughing up that deductible money before those plans will cover the rest. You would have been better off just putting that money the Govt is forcing you to pay the insurance companies every month into a savings account until something serious happens. But of course if the poor libtards wouldn't have the self control to actually put that money in to a savings account if they wern't forced to pay for that insurance. The ongoing problem of self control of ones finances is usually a big factor of why these libtards stay poor.

      Those who couldn't afford healthcare before could have just gone to public health facilities for check ups or minor needs for free or extremely reduced cost.

    4. Re: If Obama had found the cure for cancer by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 1

      I have an ACA plan with $600 deductible. :) So no.

    5. Re:If Obama had found the cure for cancer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ... if Obama had found the cure for cancer...

      If he had, his administration wouldn't have been such an utter failure.

    6. Re: If Obama had found the cure for cancer by Uberbah · · Score: 3, Funny

      Moreover, this "debate" is like most others - the so-called champions of science have long since abandoned any hope of convincing cultists with facts, reasoning or citations and have learned to just ignore those engaging in willful dumbfuckery

      FTFY

    7. Re: If Obama had found the cure for cancer by Cyberax · · Score: 2

      My GF had not been able to get pre-Obamacare insurance for ANY cost because of her medical history. So yep, pre-Obamacare plans were cheap... as long as you're healthy.

    8. Re: If Obama had found the cure for cancer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      1. It is impossible to convince someone of something when their job (or perceived interests) depend on them not understanding it. Awwww, you like your truck don’t you? So simply put, we all understand the what, how and why of climate change, and you’re completely correct I’ve absolutely abandoned trying to get you to understand, because you don’t want to,

      2. Just because you don’t believe a fact doesn’t make that fact untrue (read: Fake News said in the voice of, a well known moron). In this particular case, since the (actual scientific) evidence of this theory (sorry, I realize you may not understand the definition of theory in this context) is overwhelming, policy is properly made around it.

      3. Look up tragedy of the commons. That is all that is happening here, and I’m sorry you’re upset about this, but we’re determined to stop it. It is natural that you’re angry, it is what is is,

      4. I don’t care if you call me names, your bluster is just a bunch of bull (see 1-3). Get over it. And, otherwise, kindly go fuck yourself. And I mean that it the kindest, most compassionate way possible.

      The captcha for this post is merits. And that’s just an excellent coincidence, really fitting, actually.

    9. Re: If Obama had found the cure for cancer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      [...] everyone is stupid but me so I will just do what I feel like doing.

      Which is totally not what Trump has been thinking seemingly his entire very-privileged life...

    10. Re: If Obama had found the cure for cancer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have a brother in Iowa who cannot get insurance through work (mostly union employees and he's not on a union job) and is on an ACA plan. He pays $750/month for his family of four on a plan with a total annual deductible (whole family) of $8k.

      There's a guy around the corner from him on a $1k deductible and pays around $80/month. He is not a whole family and he is significantly subsidized.

      ACA plans tend to be pretty poop for people that don't meet the subsidy qualifications, but great if you do. Imagine that.

    11. Re:If Obama had found the cure for cancer by greylion3 · · Score: 1

      Yep, just one more to add to the list of what needs to be reversed, once that piece of [expletive] on two legs is no longer in office. Seriously, there will probably be nation-wide parties when he's out, one way or another.

      --
      Privacy begins with ..
  9. EPA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Should be considered to be limiting California rules as much of the standards are basically California desires. Why should one state impose their standards on everyone else?

  10. I thought we already had this by Spy+Handler · · Score: 2

    There's like, the 49-state version and then there's a California version with extra emissions equipment. At least that's the way it's been in the motorcycle world since.... the 80's?

    But I don't think any of this matters, what Trump EPA does or what Obama EPA did. World will pretty much be all electric in the near future. Not because of ideological beliefs, but because of the march of (technological) progress means it will simply make more economic sense for people to buy electric cars than petrol burning cars.

    1. Re:I thought we already had this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      https://www.arb.ca.gov/html/brochure/history.htm

      "1961 The first automotive emissions control technology in the nation, Positive Crankcase Ventilation, was mandated by the California Motor Vehicle State Bureau of Air Sanitation to control hydrocarbon crankcase emissions. Positive Crankcase Ventilation withdraws blow-by gases from the crankcase and returns them with the fresh air and fuel mixture in the cylinders."

    2. Re:I thought we already had this by Holi · · Score: 3, Informative

      Several states follow California

      Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico , New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington, as well as the District of Columbia.

      So it's not quite 49 to 1.

      --
      Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
    3. Re:I thought we already had this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't know what you mean by "near future", but most people drive used cars.
      I'm driving a 1994 Dodge Dakota. Even if the new vehicles all went electric this year, gasoline would still be king for a long time.

    4. Re:I thought we already had this by Spy+Handler · · Score: 1

      Well yeah, most people drive used cars. I drive a 2016 Toyota Highlander SUV, that's certainly a used car (we are in the year 2018).

      The relevant factor is, what is the median age of all cars on the road today. I'll be it's hell of a lot younger than your 1994 Dodge. Most likely 6 years, that would be my guess. But let's say the average car is 10 years old. If electric cars became cheaper to buy and maintain than comparable petrol cars, and batteries improved to a point where range anxiety was a nonfactor for most people (400 mile per charge would probably do it), most people would buy electric because charging your car at night is hell of a lot cheaper than filling it with gasoline. At this point, only 10 years (or 6 years if my guess is correct) would need to pass before majority of the cars on the road are electric.

    5. Re:I thought we already had this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And some of Californias "emission" laws are asinine. A honda EU2000I generator that I have for example. The only difference between the 49 state version and the California version is that the gas cap has to be tethered to the generator. There are actually two different product SKUs due to this. There are actually times where one might not want the cap tethered to the generator like when using a remote fuel can for extended run time. Now that cap is just going to be dangling by the tether against the side of the generator making a loud racket unless you break CA law and cut the tether.

    6. Re:I thought we already had this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In the US, the average vehicle is 11.5 years old.

      "The number of vehicles on the road that are at least 25 years old is about 14 million. That's up from about 8 million in 2002. Those are vehicles made in 1990 or earlier.

      Meanwhile, the number of vehicles that are 16 to 24 years old is 44 million. That's up from 26 million in 2002, according to IHS."

    7. Re:I thought we already had this by DigiShaman · · Score: 1

      World will pretty much be all electric in the near future.

      No it wont, not even close, and for several factors. But keep in mind I'm not against EVs. In fact, they make for some of the fastest dragsters out there (infinite torque) = fun!

      1. Range - current battery tech just doesn't have the range that to satisfy vehicular use for commercial/business usage. In addition, probably wont work well for people that travel between cities via the interstate hwy system.

      2. Cost - It's more expensive to own an EV. Though economies of scale and improved technology should bring that down.

      3. Time to charge - petrol contains lots of energy per unit of volume!! It's also easy to transport and fuel up - it's a fluid

      4. Lack of infrastructure - It's bad enough people fight over limited charging parking spots. It's even worse that our high voltage distribution system could keep up. with the re-charge draw if half of America started driving them. Though with some engineering, construction, and a bank of FES (Flywheel Energy Storage) units, we could increase capacity while smoothing out fluctuations from usage.

      Most likely well see a much greater adoption of EVs in dense urban development. That's still a positive thing, because anything that overall reduces or consumption of fossil fuels is a good thing. But for those that want to remain carbon-neutral, who knows, we might have so much excess solar/wind capacity, it might start to make sense to synthetically create petrol from it. Again, ICs will be around for awhile. Might as well be reasonable about it.

      --
      Life is not for the lazy.
    8. Re:I thought we already had this by thegarbz · · Score: 2

      But I don't think any of this matters, what Trump EPA does or what Obama EPA did. World will pretty much be all electric in the near future.

      Depends on what you think matters. You're right the world is moving towards electric. What trump is doing here is giving USA car makers incentive not to play along and get involved. Fast forward 20 years and you'll all be driving Chinese and European cars and still blaming Obama for killing the car industry.

    9. Re:I thought we already had this by Xenocrates · · Score: 1

      Average age of cars is 11.4 years. Now, if we aim for 50% or more electric, then if you sell 50% electric cars, then you need to make somewhere around 8 million of them (17.6 million cars sold in the US last year), and given we have 236 million cars on the road, then you would need around 15 years to have produced enough to replace half of the fleet, even assuming none are scrapped. On the other hand, it would take 13.4 years, if we sold nothing but electric cars, to replace the whole fleet, (or just under seven years for half), assuming none of the electric cars are scrapped/totaled.

      Back to our 50% numbers. That puts it into the territory of many of those cars needing new batteries or drive units by the end of it, since Tesla offers 8 years of battery/drive unit warranty (or 100K miles, but we'll ignore that conditional), and we will assume (contrary to current evidence, as they have been replacing drive units, and some cars are on their third one, but we'll give them the assumption that by the time they ramp up to making some fraction of the 8 million electric cars being sold at the predicated rate of 50%, they will have largely engineered out the premature failures). The drive unit and battery are a significant fraction of the cost of the car, while the cabins and frame will likely have been damaged by being driven for several years, as well as stylings and materials having moved on. Meaning that likely most people will want to just buy a new one instead of replacing just the drive unit and battery pack. If you presume that say, 25% of the remaining cars from a given year will be taken off the road after the eight years of warranty (as the whole car warranty is shorter) due to drive-train, battery, or frame issues (IE, uneconomical to repair), this does mean that a gradually increasing amount of production goes to replace cars that are at end of life, extending the time frame to hit 50%.

      So, in short, your guess was incorrect Re: age of cars. But a simple math model shows that at 7 years, not far from your guess of 6 years, if the Most buying electric from your statement was extrapolated to nearly 100%, then you could have the slim majority of cars on the road be electric. After that time period, however, EV's would increasingly replace previous generation EV's, due to longevity concerns on the batteries, and how much of a percentage of cars cost they make up, while gas cars would be hitting parts starvation, at least for the lower end cars, for drive-train specific components, as very few would or could be shared with EV's, while the 3rd party parts are going to be more expensive, as fewer and fewer people will be buying them. I suspect we would have to see at least initially, a backslide in longevity and increases in sales, or else the car fleet would contract (likely both), making it so that fewer people have cars of their own.

  11. Split by Tablizer · · Score: 0

    It's time to amiably split the USA. The civil war never really ended, and we don't get along. Let's end this ugly tug-of-war.

    The right is poisoning people & Earth for profit, reject inconvenient science and subject experts, fill the country with dangerous firearms, embed the evangelical agenda into government, discriminate against non-evangelicals, and select dangerous ADHD clowns as leaders.

    1. Re:Split by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 2

      Cheers.

      Though calling him an "ADHD clown" gives a bad name to entertainers with ADHD. How about a harmful sociopath?

    2. Re:Split by taskiss · · Score: 0

      It's time to amiably split the USA. The civil war never really ended, and we don't get along. Let's end this ugly tug-of-war.

      The right is poisoning people & Earth for profit, reject inconvenient science and subject experts, fill the country with dangerous firearms, embed the evangelical agenda into government, discriminate against non-evangelicals, and select dangerous ADHD clowns as leaders.

      The right feeds the left, or haven't you looked at the political demographics of the US farming communities?. Have fun feeling superior for however long you last.

      --
      - real hackers don't have sigs -
    3. Re:Split by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're side of the new border will be operating gulags inside of five years.

    4. Re:Split by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What do you think will happen to all those farms if people in cities aren't buying their output? And where exactly are you going to get the fuel, fertilizer, equipment, and engineers without those cities and the commerce they support?

    5. Re:Split by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sounds good.

      The left will have a dozen cities.

      The right will grow all the food and transport all the goods and build everything.

      And the left will be dead in 3 months.

    6. Re:Split by dunkelfalke · · Score: 1

      It's not the middle ages anymore, no matter how much you wish it to be otherwise. Food is a global commodity.

      --
      "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
    7. Re:Split by Howitzer86 · · Score: 1

      California's waver is up for renewal in 2025. One plan is to let that expire in order to force the state's environmental policy to fall in line behind the federal rollback. Until then, expect most US cars to not deviate far from that standard... with some exceptions (like the reintroduction of the small truck in other states).

      Trump's up for reelection in two years. If you can get him out of there, and if he doesn't succeed in revoking it early, you can protect California's emission regulations. If you can protect their regulations, you provide the rest of America some semblance of coverage until the new administration comes in.

      Even in the worst case, the lobbyists must succeed in rolling back regulations worldwide for there to be an appreciable difference here at home. I know the article tries to make that seem like a certainty, but I think it's just fear mongering. I half expected them to suggest that the government would ban catalytic converters and reintroduce leaded gasoline.

      I'm not unsympathetic. Just be mindful that everyone has an agenda, and that everyone wants to get you upset.

    8. Re:Split by jeff4747 · · Score: 4, Informative

      The right feeds the left, or haven't you looked at the political demographics of the US farming communities?

      Those farming communities are heavily reliant on "liberal" areas to fund their existence. That's why CA only gets back 80-someodd cents of every tax dollar, while "farming" states turn a profit on federal taxes.

      So I think the evil liberal commies could afford to take some of your subsidy and use it to buy food on the global market.

    9. Re:Split by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      The right feeds the left

      I proposed an amiable split, not war. Trade doesn't have to go away. And even if there were war, plenty of other countries grow food to sell.

      Have fun feeling superior

      What's that have to do with a split? Both sides feel superior: humans have fat-ass egos both on an individual level and cultural level. The point is we don't get along and therefore should divorce.

    10. Re:Split by Kohath · · Score: 1, Troll

      The right is poisoning people & Earth for profit, reject inconvenient science and subject experts, fill the country with dangerous firearms...

      As a compromise, why not just stop trying to impose your belief systems on people? If people want to have firearms, how does it help anyone to hate on those people? Is hate your goal? Because that's mostly what you’ve achieved.

      If people refuse your belief that you can "save the Earth", why should they be bullied into going along with something they think is false? You've tried forcing them to go along with you. You've tried name-calling them and being mean to them. You've tried pointing at people you revere as "experts". You've tried making endless apocalyptic predictions of the future. How did it work out? Is it working out? Maybe you should give up trying to make others live their lives according to your beliefs. How about it?

      You know what you didn't try? Listening to them and caring about their concerns. Being fair to them. Treating them like your fellow Americans. If you want to accomplish something more than spreading hatred and division, this is how you start doing that.

    11. Re:Split by Distortions · · Score: 1

      The real problem is everyone is trying to move everything to the federal level.
      There are states for a reason.

      --
      Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see.
    12. Re:Split by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

      What do you think will happen to all those farms if people in cities aren't buying their output?

      They can scale back production, lower costs, and have some nice forest areas in addition to the high quality subsistence crops.

    13. Re:Split by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That was only true when state taxes could be written off the fed.
      And that's over with.

      Check back next year to see how CA is doing and find out the real # now.

    14. Re:Split by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And the left subsidized the right.

    15. Re:Split by jeff4747 · · Score: 1

      That was only true when state taxes could be written off the fed.
      And that's over with.

      Um.....writing off state taxes reduces federal income taxes. So high-tax states will be paying more in taxes. Which means that 80-someodd percent will now be 75-to-80 someodd.

      In other words, they're paying an even bigger subsidy to the "farming" states. Making it even easier to fund buying food from global sources.

      Also, have you considered those "farming" states would be losing their largest and most profitable markets?

    16. Re:Split by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What the fuck is it with all this fly-over hatred?

      Just where do you think all the money they actually do make goes? All the banks, all the big corporations, everyone has set up camp in one of the coastal states with shit laws that allow them to pillage private information, pay almost no taxes, and take no responsibility for the future of their employees or actual public investors when they go tits up. Far too many of the dollars they spend goes out of their state and into the coffers of the greedy, because that's where most money ends up. Seriously, the farmers do pretty well, it's the support squad in the actual communities that you so loathe that have been hit terribly hard by all of the corporate raiding and "globalization" of the last three decades. So you all just blame and blame and blame them for not wanting to have every bit of their lives managed by 80 different liberal organizations in a city where they have to live stacked on top of each other 10 high. Sea to shining sea my ass.

    17. Re:Split by jeff4747 · · Score: 1

      What the fuck is it with all this fly-over hatred?

      What the fuck is it with all this coastal hatred?

      It's not like flyover country has a positive opinion of "coastal elites". For example, they've been claiming the people of states like NY and CA are not Real Americans for decades.

      If you throw shit, don't be surprised when some of it splashes back on you.

  12. A lawyer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A lawyer (and Republican politician) head of the EPA is simply doing his job.

    1. Re:A lawyer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      So said all the Nazis at Nuremburg. Just wait...

    2. Re:A lawyer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, I am sure GP meant he is not supposed to be in that position.

  13. Re:Two Words by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 5, Informative

    California already has stricter emission standards that have held up in court (for new cars, you can still bring a "Federal standard" used car into CA if it exceeds 15,000 miles on the clock).

    Some counties ban alcohol sale, others allow it year around. Some states allow AR-15s, others ban them from sale. States don't have an obligation to allow a given item to be sold in their state or city.

  14. Re:Two Words by Jahoda · · Score: 3, Interesting

    ...b...b...b..ut you guys keep telling us about states' rights and limited government interference! Surely you aren't just a sour-grapes hypocrite more concerned with "sticking it" to whatever you imagine liberalism and by extension California to be?

    LOL, anyway, I'm sure _this_ will be the time that the courts side with the Trump administration, over the last 50 years of California's regulation of emissions produced by vehicles in their state.

  15. "handing a victory to car manufacturers " by hwihyw · · Score: 1

    Really? So if Ford was offering a 10mpg car and Honda was offering a 35mpg comparable car, you gonna buy the Ford? How many car manufacturers are out there? You are free to buy from the most fuel efficient car maker. And buying a more fuel efficient car saves you money, so why would you need a law to force you to buy the more fuel efficient model? Why not a law to force CPU makers minimum flops? Or RAM makers minimum Ram speeds? Or hard driver makers minimum terabytes?

    1. Re:"handing a victory to car manufacturers " by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 0

      Because gas is cheap in the US and cowards equate brute size with safety.

      Me? I'll keep riding 50-60mpg motorcycles, because I don't really care...

    2. Re:"handing a victory to car manufacturers " by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As a consumer, you shouldn't be allowed to make this choice. You might make it wrong.

    3. Re:"handing a victory to car manufacturers " by oic0 · · Score: 1

      It's easier to make a car more fuel efficient if emission standards are more lax. Restrictive exhaust systems sap power which you in turn make up for by pushing the pedal down further.

    4. Re:"handing a victory to car manufacturers " by Kohath · · Score: 0

      So if Ford was offering a 10mpg car and Honda was offering a 35mpg comparable car, you gonna buy the Ford?

      People buy Ford trucks all the time. Low MPG vehicles are trucks and SUVs.

      How many car manufacturers are out there?

      More than you think. Dozens. Maybe hundreds.

      You are free to buy from the most fuel efficient car maker. And buying a more fuel efficient car saves you money, so why would you need a law to force you to buy the more fuel efficient model?

      Non-believers must be forced to obey the commandments of the environmental religion.

    5. Re:"handing a victory to car manufacturers " by hawguy · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Really? So if Ford was offering a 10mpg car and Honda was offering a 35mpg comparable car, you gonna buy the Ford? How many car manufacturers are out there? You are free to buy from the most fuel efficient car maker. And buying a more fuel efficient car saves you money, so why would you need a law to force you to buy the more fuel efficient model? Why not a law to force CPU makers minimum flops? Or RAM makers minimum Ram speeds? Or hard driver makers minimum terabytes?

      That's a strawman.

      The choice will be more like a 35mpg Honda and 25mph Ford that costs $2000 less, has a more powerful engine, but also emits a *lot* more pollutants of all types, not just CO2, but the smog inducing pollutants that have a direct link in killing people.

      Many people will take the cheap, faster car even if it kills children since that killing is an indirect link, which is why the regulation is needed.

    6. Re: "handing a victory to car manufacturers " by TheReaperD · · Score: 1

      More often than not, you are correct, even though you are probably trolling. Consumers are stupid and have proven that they will make the same bad choices over and over again.

      --
      "Be particularly skeptical when presented with evidence confirming what you already believe." -
    7. Re: "handing a victory to car manufacturers " by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      More often than not, you are correct, even though you are probably trolling. Consumers are stupid and have proven that they will make the same bad choices over and over again.

      If people are so stupid, why should we let them to vote, to chose the ways they live, and chose the partners they marry? Won't be better if an organization chose wisely for them?

    8. Re:"handing a victory to car manufacturers " by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your not wrong, it's the top selling car model in the world.

    9. Re:"handing a victory to car manufacturers " by n3r0.m4dski11z · · Score: 1

      "You are free to buy from the most fuel efficient car maker. And buying a more fuel efficient car saves you money, so why would you need a law to force you to buy the more fuel efficient model"

      Because the law is to force companies to set the bar higher for what is acceptable. Has nothing to do with saving money. Many people have more money than sense and so money can not be the primary motivator of change.

      This is more similar to the laws enforcing mandatory vaccinations. You can't trust people to make the right decision, and in both cases the greater good is what is at stake.
      So by forcing the car manufacturers to innovate, rises the tide and it helps everyone.

      This is the job of government.

      --
      -
    10. Re:"handing a victory to car manufacturers " by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The choice will be more like a 35mpg Honda and 25mph Ford that costs $2000 less, has a more powerful engine

      Many people will take the cheap, faster car

      After about 6000 miles you've spent the $2000 you saved making the Honda cheaper within the first year. As for the speed both cars are going to reach the speed limit and the difference in acceleration isn't going to be that great unless you're talking about a sports car so it won't actually save you much time by being just a little bit faster.

    11. Re:"handing a victory to car manufacturers " by nevermindme · · Score: 1

      You are only getting slightly better than what was to be enforced CAFE standard of 2020 on a 400lb motorcycle. Without a turbodesiel 45-50mpg in actual driving (80mph Highway) conditions was not going to be in anything larger than what we call out here in flyover country a "city car" and it would not carry wheel/tire combos with all-weather capabilities Where I live I need 6-8 inches of ground clearance to avoid that front air dam becoming a snowplow from NOV 1 - April 1. California having a diffrent standard for the porn valley buyer is ok with me, but I need an option for the snow belt so 50 states of regulation do not sound all that bad.

    12. Re: "handing a victory to car manufacturers " by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 2

      Consumers are stupid and have proven that they will

      You know what? Fuck YOU to people who label others as 'consumers.' Everybody consumes. There is no special class of stupid-cow-people who you can look down upon, because you are some fucking enlightened-type dude.

    13. Re:"handing a victory to car manufacturers " by hawguy · · Score: 1

      The choice will be more like a 35mpg Honda and 25mph Ford that costs $2000 less, has a more powerful engine

      Many people will take the cheap, faster car

      After about 6000 miles you've spent the $2000 you saved making the Honda cheaper within the first year. As for the speed both cars are going to reach the speed limit and the difference in acceleration isn't going to be that great unless you're talking about a sports car so it won't actually save you much time by being just a little bit faster.

      I'm not sure what point you're trying to make, but I assume it's that Americans can't do simple arithmetic? The difference in fuel consumption for 6000 miles between 35mpg and 25mpg is 68 gallons, or around $275 dollars if gas costs $4/gallon.

    14. Re:"handing a victory to car manufacturers " by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Many people will take the cheap, faster car even if it kills children since that killing is an indirect link, which is why the regulation is needed.

      It's unfortunate how often the case is that a cheaper although not as clean/efficient car can mean the difference between eating for the next four weeks or not. I'd love to see the hands of those who would choose to let their children starve over the chance an additional 0.0005678 random people will develop a cancer over the next 50 years because they bought the cheaper car.

      Sometimes it's not just about the money, when it's about the money.

  16. (C)EPA by sremick · · Score: 1

    Well it's clear what they're charged with "protecting" now.

    (Corporate) Economic Protection Agency

    1. Re:(C)EPA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why not require cars to get 10000 MPG? It'll be good for the environment. The EPA has always been tasked with managing a trade-off between economics and environment.

  17. EPA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Environmental Piss-taking Agency

  18. Re:Naturally This Will Upset People Because Reason by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 1

    It doesn't handicap us -- cars sold outside the US by the same makers won't be subject to US standards anyway. If anything, it will force them to do research to meet future EU/China/Japan standards NOW, and make them more prepared to compete when those laws come down.

    Higher US standards would also favor US manufacturers over foreign ones as far as sales in the US.

  19. Pro-business, pro-Dominionist, anti-science.. by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 2
    ..and anti-human life. That's what this is.

    Let's roll back the calendar to the Good Olde Days (approximately 50 to 75 years, that is), when we were totally ignorant about the impact we have on the planet we have to live on, we did what we wanted because that's the American Way, and God had the last word on everything!

    That's also what this is.

    The Dominionists should love this, it's one more thing to check off their to-do list: hasten destruction of the Earth, so Zombie Jesus will come back to them and take them Home that much sooner.

    We have to get the Trump administration out as soon as possible, while it may still be possible to repair the damage being done to pretty much everything.

    1. Re:Pro-business, pro-Dominionist, anti-science.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth. - Rev 11:18

  20. Re:Two Words by Ichijo · · Score: 1

    I like your optimism that the EPA will behave differently than the FCC.

    --
    Any sufficiently unpopular but cohesive argument is indistinguishable from trolling.
  21. Would gas tax be a good substitute? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Couldn't California accomplish almost the same effect by raising the gas tax? That will give residents an incentive to buy more efficient cars, as well as cut down on miles driven by existing cars.

    1. Re:Would gas tax be a good substitute? by hawguy · · Score: 1

      Couldn't California accomplish almost the same effect by raising the gas tax? That will give residents an incentive to buy more efficient cars, as well as cut down on miles driven by existing cars.

      A gas tax doesn't magically make cars reduce emissions -- it can have the opposite effect where manufacturers sacrifice emissions for efficiency. Otherwise we'd all be driving diesels.

    2. Re:Would gas tax be a good substitute? by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 1

      So set ceilings for emissions, then tax gas. Manufacturers will be forced to work within the emissions standards and increase efficiency, maybe by (OMG!) selling smaller/lighter cars. Your average hausfrau doesn't need to drive a 18mpg Silverado.

    3. Re:Would gas tax be a good substitute? by hawguy · · Score: 1

      So set ceilings for emissions, then tax gas. Manufacturers will be forced to work within the emissions standards and increase efficiency, maybe by (OMG!) selling smaller/lighter cars. Your average hausfrau doesn't need to drive a 18mpg Silverado.

      Why not do both? Set emission and fuel efficiency standards? Forcing efficiency through fuel taxes turns into a regressive tax on the guy that can only afford a 10 year old 22mpg sedan instead of a modern 45mpg hybrid. And the guy with the $100K 14mpg BWM doesn't care. But tell BMW that they need a fleet average of XX mpg, and they'll be forced to sell afforable high MPG cars to offset the expensive low MPG cars.

    4. Re:Would gas tax be a good substitute? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We already have this here. Our gas is about $1/gal more than free USA.

      Don't give them any more ideas.

    5. Re:Would gas tax be a good substitute? by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 1

      The tax money is there -- partially use it to subsidize purchases of more efficient cars, use of transit, etc, below a certain income level.

    6. Re:Would gas tax be a good substitute? by jeff4747 · · Score: 1

      Really? Just how well do you think "giving away cars to poor people" is going to go over in our current political discourse?

    7. Re:Would gas tax be a good substitute? by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 1

      About as well as any other smart idea (including a higher gas tax) goes over in the current cesspool of US politics. The US is frankly beyond help as a united country -- best thing that could happen to it would be Calexit and NEexit.

  22. They just run two production lines by rsilvergun · · Score: 0

    they've been doing that for Europe for years. The problem with fuel efficiency is that we subsidize gas with our military, using it to keep a lid on the cost of gas by stabilizing the flow of cheap oil from the middle east (yes, I'm aware we are currently a net exporter, but the oil market is global, and if the price of oil out of the mid east shoots up then US producers will sell overseas at higher prices and the domestic price goes up as a result, globalism's a bitch).

    Anyway for my money anything that reduces the need for those subsidies is a good thing. >half our budget just went to the military. That's not defense, that's empire.

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
    1. Re:They just run two production lines by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 3, Insightful

      >half our budget just went to the military.

      Umm, no.

      US Military budget is around 630 billion dollars. Total Federal budget is north of 4 trillion dollars.

      Even if you only count discretionary spending, the military budget is maybe 40% of the budget, at most.

      --

      "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
    2. Re:They just run two production lines by 4im · · Score: 1

      Does that number include all of the nuclear stuff? AFAIK, most of that runs under the Department of Energy, not the DoD, and would have to be added to your "measly" 630 billion bucks. I wouldn't be surprised if some other departments also had budgets that would go towards military spending.

      Even at the cited number, the USA are still at more than the next several most spending countries together.

    3. Re:They just run two production lines by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Military is 54% of discretionary spending.

  23. What winning looks like by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    1. Cut taxes adding another trillion to the national debt we spent years rallying against. Make sure 80% of tax reduction goes to top 1% all the while giving a massive one finger salute to our children.

    2. Gut any environmental regulation our billionaire buddies want

    3. Give Putin locations of US nuclear submarines

    4. Allow traitors to covertly change republican party platform to be PRO-Russia

    5. Allow traitors who will now likely spend the rest of their lives in jail to run your campaign

    6. Install a traitor into the role of national security advisor

    7. Publically invite hostile foreign nations to attack your political opponents

    8. Hire a bunch of low life scum to work in your administration having no chance of ever obtaining security clearances.

    9. Install Manchurian leaders to destroy any congressionally mandated agency you disagree with.

    10. Trump's own wife wants nothing to do with him.

  24. Regressive tax by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Tax will have little impact for people who can afford more fuel thirsty vehicles (SUVs, trucks, and sports cars). Meanwhile it'll hi the working poor like ton of bricks.

    1. Re:Regressive tax by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 1

      Tax the fuel, subsidize the low end. Problem solved. Ironically, "sports cars" are actually pretty efficient. Drive an MR-2 and you'll find out that it gets around 40 mpg. It's muscle cars that guzzle like drunken pigs.

    2. Re: Regressive tax by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Iâ(TM)m sure my family of 6 can fit! Lots of blather spoken by loners who have no friends.

    3. Re: Regressive tax by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 1

      If you bred four kids, you're part of the problem. Zero population growth should be a goal, and a Civic 4-door fits a couple of kids just fine.

    4. Re: Regressive tax by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

      Handguns are legal in the US. Presumably you live in the US and can go out, purchase a handgun, and contribute to zero population growth by killing yourself.

  25. Bout time. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Only the united states and canada has those standards at all...

    Kinda fucking stupid to be the only ones doing it.

    1. Re:Bout time. by hawguy · · Score: 2

      Only the united states and canada has those standards at all...

      Kinda fucking stupid to be the only ones doing it.

      What are you talking about? Nearly every country has emissions standards:

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

      Even under the stricter Obama led standards, the USA still lags most of the world in efficiency standards:

      http://www.biologicaldiversity...

    2. Re:Bout time. by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

      Only the united states and canada has those standards at all...

      Kinda fucking stupid to be the only ones doing it.

      Somebody has been watching WAY TOO MUCH Faux news!!!

      --
      I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
    3. Re:Bout time. by Charcharodon · · Score: 1

      Wasn't it all the European car companies the ones getting their pants sued off for cheating on the emissions tests the past 5 years? Volkswagen has half a million cars sitting out in the desert they can't sell because of that. I'd take it with a grain of salt that they are doing better than the US.

    4. Re:Bout time. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      European cars with super-high gas mileage are regularly banned from sale in the US for being too polluting (XL1), or for having unsafe construction. US vehicles have to be tough, in order to safely withstand collisions with multi-ton SUVs and vans. The dinky Euro-trash city cars with plastic and fiber construction crumple in a strong breeze.

      Of course, the prevalence of those multi-ton SUVs is due entirely to the CAFE standards that Trump's admin is talking about reversing. See, those clean emissions and fuel efficiency standards only applied to smaller cars - so bigger cars, like pickups, SUVs, and vans, were immune. So, guess what every car company started building?

    5. Re:Bout time. by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 1

      Not really -- you can get a Yaris (2300 lb), Versa, or Smart car in the US. European crash safety standards are similar to (or tougher than) US ones these days, and can be met without making the car a heavy porker. Problem in the US is cheap gas, so no market for light/cheap cars.

      XL1 is not a real car -- it was a VW concept. But yeah, you can get European-sized cars in the US, and they'll meet safety standards.

    6. Re:Bout time. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      European companies, such as Ford, General Motors, Suzuki and Toyota...

  26. MAGA baby! MAGA! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Winning!

  27. Re:Two Words by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How does the Supremacy Clause or the Interstate Commerce Clause prevent a state from having stricter standards than the federal government?

  28. Sad... by tim620 · · Score: 2

    Another sad day for the USA. From a sad administration...

  29. About Time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The day of the faggoty Prius is over, bring back the muscle cars!

    1. Re:About Time by Locke2005 · · Score: 4, Funny

      The sooner Mar-a-lago goes underwater, the better, baby!

      --
      I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
    2. Re:About Time by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 1

      Ever driven a 60s muscle car? It's like driving a barge with a stinky engine. All HP, no handling, no brakes, no thanks. If we're going to bring back the glory days of cars, we could do worse than a Jag E-type or MGB... maybe an Alfa Spider or two as well.

    3. Re:About Time by Charcharodon · · Score: 1
      by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 30, 2018 @04:58PM (#56355385) The day of the faggoty Prius is over, bring back the muscle cars!"

      Where have you been? You have more choices of high performance cars than ever before. Exactly when in history could you buy a Mustang/Camaro that you could set the cruise control to 125mph and just cruise smoothly down the highway at 20+mpg?

      Not to mention motorcycles. My not particular fast FZ-1 street bike does 0-60 in 2.9s and tops out around 185mph.

      You are living the dream right now. On a plus if you crash a modern car you will actually have a good chance of surviving the wreck uninjured.

    4. Re:About Time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Modern cars, sports cars excepted, look all dumb. They got big trunks like they are in heat, and they all look samey.

      Maybe we'll get some sweet cars with fins on 'em.

      Probably just more SUVs tho

  30. All party of the Trump philosophy by Locke2005 · · Score: 2

    You know, the Trump philosophy summarized simply as, "Fuck you, environment!" What bothers me is that they could make cars that got 50mpg 70 years ago, e.g. the Fiat 500. However, with all the safety rules they are now required to follow, they have to go to great lengths to build an efficient hybrid car... that still cannot do better than 50mpg. Technically, it is possible to build a vehicle that gets over 100mpg, but the regulations won't let you drive it on the street.

    --
    I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
    1. Re:All party of the Trump philosophy by jeff4747 · · Score: 1

      Technically, it is possible to build a vehicle that gets over 100mpg, but the regulations won't let you drive it on the street.

      And the trade-off is people are now walking away from accidents that used to guarantee death.

    2. Re:All party of the Trump philosophy by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 0

      Sure they'll allow you to drive it on the street, if you give it two or three wheels. :) Register as a motorcycle, almost anything goes. Problem solved. You can buy 125cc motos and scooters that will get 80-100mpg in the US, today.

    3. Re:All party of the Trump philosophy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Meanwhile the planet grows warmer! Safety for all for a short time? or safety for many for a long time? The latter seems a better route to head down.

    4. Re:All party of the Trump philosophy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And continuing to work themselves to death to pay for it. Cars would cost less than half as much without the regulations too. Regulations support industry and create jobs because they make it harder for the little guy to break into the business and add work. Regulation and red tape is the biggest growth industry over the last 50 years. Deregulation like this costs jobs.

    5. Re:All party of the Trump philosophy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You know, the Trump philosophy summarized simply as, "Fuck you, environment!"

      The environment has often stalled his golf course building projects. That explains everything that happens in the US politics today. Everything.

    6. Re:All party of the Trump philosophy by jeff4747 · · Score: 1

      I love people volunteering for others to die.

    7. Re:All party of the Trump philosophy by jeff4747 · · Score: 1

      And continuing to work themselves to death to pay for it. Cars would cost less than half as much without the regulations too

      A car being $12k instead of $25k isn't much of a deal when it comes with a $500k hospital bill.

      Also, citation required for the cost half-as-much claim.

      Regulations support industry and create jobs because they make it harder for the little guy to break into the business

      So you've spent less than a second thinking about all the costs and infrastructure for setting up a car company.

      Also, how's that little guy who just started a new car company doing? Eleon something? I hear he's been able to sell a few cars despite the horror of the government demanding his product not be woefully inadequate in a crash.

    8. Re:All party of the Trump philosophy by vandamme · · Score: 1

      And they're subsidized by us taxpayers so rich people can have luxury electric cars. Still, Elon is losing money.

  31. the military budget is maybe 40% of the budget by whathappenedtomonday · · Score: 5, Funny

    > the military budget is maybe 40% of the budget, at most.

    Phew. The OP almost got me worried. I feel very much relieved now. Thanks a bunch for that!

    --
    I hope I didn't brain my damage.
    1. Re:the military budget is maybe 40% of the budget by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      if it makes you feel any better, this is all paid for in dollars, which aren't real

    2. Re:the military budget is maybe 40% of the budget by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, who cares about telling the truth anyway?

      It's not like maintaining a military defense is a legitimate purpose of government or anything.

    3. Re:the military budget is maybe 40% of the budget by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > the military budget is maybe 40% of the budget, at most.

      I'd like to see spending justified for value gained across the board. A lot of countries spent far less on defense, and remain oddly uninvaded.

      Now you could argue that being the worlds policeman is something the US should do, but I'm not sure we should put that in the defense budget. Maybe we need an offense budget, just to be clear? I.E. this is the amount required to keep us safe while this is the amount required to do these other tasks. I'm not saying that all of those tasks are bad, merely that we should be honest.

      The arsehat in charge of the EPA is basically screwing over the future for short term profits. He is old and I guess he doesn't give a fuck for, well, future generations. Rolling back the rules is not going to be worth it when you count the true cost to society of all that pollution.

    4. Re:the military budget is maybe 40% of the budget by rally2xs · · Score: 3, Insightful

      " A lot of countries spent far less on defense, and remain oddly uninvaded."

      Because WE are protecting them with OUR (very expensive) military. Before he was elected, before he was even running for election, Donald Trump mentioned in interviews that some big benficiaries of our defense spending should start coughing up for its creation and maintenance. I favor that. If you're in such a situation that you're in danger if the US military goes home, then you should be paying for it.

    5. Re:the military budget is maybe 40% of the budget by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      " A lot of countries spent far less on defense, and remain oddly uninvaded."

      Because WE are protecting them with OUR (very expensive) military. Before he was elected, before he was even running for election, Donald Trump mentioned in interviews that some big benficiaries of our defense spending should start coughing up for its creation and maintenance. I favor that. If you're in such a situation that you're in danger if the US military goes home, then you should be paying for it.

      Correlation is not causation and even if there was a causal relation it doesn't translate that you necessarily need to spend X to get the Y outcome.

      Trump says a lot of crap. Much of it benefits Putin. He once threatened not to honor our mutual defense treaties as an effort to get that money. The only one who won there was Putin who was no doubt to see the US relationship with allies weaken. Hell Trump is actively threatening to pull out of agreements we have already made. If there is one thing that increases peril for the US, both financially and militarily it is not honoring our agreements. Countries won't work with the United States if they think they can't trust us.

      I thought Obama made a mistake when he didn't respond to his threat, but you can hardly call Trump's continual lying and threatening to end all agreements and accords a good thing. His actions make Obama's mistake look like a tempest in a teacup. Even now he just suddenly decides to pull out of Syria, seemingly presenting a gift to Putin.

    6. Re:the military budget is maybe 40% of the budget by DigiShaman · · Score: 1, Insightful

      There is NO Russian collusion! Give that shit up. You retards are blinding me from all the reflection given off your tin-foil hats.

      That said, the parent is correct. Trust mentioned that the US is effectively subsidizing other nations via an umbrella of protection paid for by the US tax payer. Now, I'm all for helping out allies. But, when European nations (members of NATO) are touting socialized medicine and how great it is, in essence, you can thank the US for that.

      --
      Life is not for the lazy.
    7. Re:the military budget is maybe 40% of the budget by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because WE are protecting them with OUR (very expensive) military. Before he was elected, before he was even running for election, Donald Trump mentioned in interviews that some big benficiaries of our defense spending should start coughing up for its creation and maintenance. I favor that. If you're in such a situation that you're in danger if the US military goes home, then you should be paying for it.

      I don't think it very likely that the US spends hugely on their military simply out of the kindness of their heart. If we, in EU, started paying as much as the US, then US influence would be diminished, and your government doesn't want that, it seems. In my view, you guys are simply buying influence.

    8. Re:the military budget is maybe 40% of the budget by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Lol. Actually there probably be far less wars in the world of the USA just didn't exist.

      The USA world police is much like Americas police. Hated bullies with weapons paying on the weak.

    9. Re:the military budget is maybe 40% of the budget by rally2xs · · Score: 1

      The strategy here is that WE have the strongest military, and y'all have little to none, so 1) You can't threaten US effectively and 2) You can't start fighting each other again. Fuck, after 2 times in the 20th century y'all find reason to go invading each other, and WE have to climb in boats and come over there to put a stop to it at great expense and loss of life, WE figure it's a great thing if y'all aren't using your money to build bombs and tanks to be rolling across each other's borders and starting more wicked shit. The Soviet Union / Russians have been obliging enough to provide a common enemy to focus our efforts in a common interest, but WE need to stop providing the lion's share of the $$$ 'cuz we're just at the point that we can't afford it any more.

    10. Re:the military budget is maybe 40% of the budget by Barsteward · · Score: 1

      I have a tendency not to believe a word Trump says. https://www.politico.eu/articl...

      --
      "The hands that help are better far than lips that pray." - Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899)
    11. Re:the military budget is maybe 40% of the budget by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Trust mentioned that the US is effectively subsidizing other nations via an umbrella of protection paid for by the US tax payer. Now, I'm all for helping out allies. But, when European nations (members of NATO) are touting socialized medicine and how great it is, in essence, you can thank the US for that.

      So you're saying that the only reason you're not going for socialized medicine is that it is so expensive that you couldn't protect NATO members any more? My god, we Europeans had no idea! We thought is was just that you had shitty politicians. We are deeply touched by your generosity, but as a European you have my permission to spend that money on socialized medicine (something like Medicare, but then for everbody, right?), and lower your defence budget by whatever it takes. (0.1%?) I'm pretty sure that if you ask them nicely, the NATO members will officially permit the US to introduce socialized medicine pronto. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

      (To be inclusive: the above may contain sarcasm.)

    12. Re:the military budget is maybe 40% of the budget by Barsteward · · Score: 1

      But, when European nations (members of NATO) are touting socialized medicine and how great it is, in essence, you can thank the US for that.

      nice attempt at spin there. The Uk, not long ago, just finished paying off the USA for WW2. No subsidy there.

      --
      "The hands that help are better far than lips that pray." - Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899)
    13. Re:the military budget is maybe 40% of the budget by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We aren't protecting shit. Our military is for commodity and corporate expansion, no more, no less. Whether it is taking from countries around the world, or here at home, it is nothing but a leech on humanity. Furthermore, there is no accounting for Black Budget projects, there is no actual numbers, only trillions of "missing dollars" and the False Flags that follow such announcements.

    14. Re:the military budget is maybe 40% of the budget by Reziac · · Score: 1

      I noted that the owner of Politico is a contributor to the Clinton Foundation, and decided not to believe a word it says, either.

      --
      ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
    15. Re:the military budget is maybe 40% of the budget by Reziac · · Score: 1

      Ya know, that's a good point. If the U.S. didn't subsidize NATO defense, those other nations couldn't afford to have socialized medicine and migrant-welfare programs. Hmmm.....

      --
      ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
    16. Re:the military budget is maybe 40% of the budget by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If so, then the US military budget should go *down*, not up, so that those countries see the withdrawal of US resources and invest more of their own to make up the difference.

      Instead we see Trump spending even *more* money on the military, mostly funded on ever increasing debt. Why would a country under the "umbrella" of US projection feel inclined to spend more when he's spending like a drunken sailor?

  32. Re:Two Words by jeff4747 · · Score: 1

    Requiring cars and trucks in California to have a "California Emissions" package started in the 1970s. CARB still has requirements for cars and trucks in California. Lots of lawsuits, all won by California.

    In fact, there is nothing in the Constitution nor Supreme Court precedent that stops California from doing this. It would only be a problem if California was attempting to regulate cars and trucks in other states. It isn't.

  33. Re:Two Words by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There is existing legal precedent for California's emission controls. The manufacturers produced regular and "California only" vehicles before. The market for them and the other states that follow CARB guidelines is more than 90 million people. That's more than sufficient for the manufacturers to have different vehicles if they have to.

  34. 2002 is repeating by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Bill Clinton's administration passed all sorts of new regulations, the most-famous being his "clean water" regulations, before he left office and scheduled to take effect during the term of his successor. Clinton got to claim all the credit for this do-gooder action to remove lead and aresenic from water, while having absolutely NONE of the downside of extra costs and bureaucracy during his time in office. When the Bush team got in and the regulations were about to kick-in several things had become clear: (1) many towns in middle America were being told to make their SEWAGE cleaner then the water nature provided their citizens in their well water, (2) many towns could not afford to make the drinking water as clean as the new regs required, and (3) there was no proof anybody would be healthier with the new extreme purity demanded as opposed to the clean water already available in those towns [this had NOTHING to do with the much later Flynt Michigan bad pipes issue). The Bush administration, faced with this insane situation, rescinded the new water rules and was immediately branded as evil and wanting lead and arsenic in drinking water (by leaving the standards exactly as they had been through the 8 years of Clinton).

    Now, the Obama administration put in place new fuel standards that NEVER applied during the 8 years of Obama and were scheduled to massively increase over the 8 years post-Obama. These standards are completely unrealistic (big pickups and SUVs getting nearly 60MPG within less than a decade????) and would probably REQUIRE pixie dust and spells from magic faries. In cancelling the huge ramp-up in regulation, the rules will revert to what they were during the 8 years of Obama, but apparently if the Obama-era mileage and emissions standards are in place during the Trump era, Trump will be KILLING THE PLANET, killing children, killing women, killing the elderly, etc.

    This is a political scam the Democrats pull every time and the Republicans in DC are always reliably too stupid to counter-message. You cannot blame the Democrats for doing it, since it works as a strategy and as politicians schemes like this are tools of their trade. The general public, however needs to wise-up and spend a little less time at the movies, on twitter and facebook, at and just a little more time paying attention.

  35. EPA to its employees: ignore science by magzteel · · Score: 0

    The EPA did not tell it's employees to ignore science.
    The EPA said the science to be used shouldn't be kept a secret.

    1. Re:EPA to its employees: ignore science by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      From what I read in the article, they basically said that since the science admits there is an error of margin in their results, you can disregard them and assume they are not making a point.

    2. Re:EPA to its employees: ignore science by hey! · · Score: 1

      Err... no. The memo in question basically instructs staffers to use equivocal language to misrepresent the current state of evidence.

      Suppose somebody asks you, "Is a proton more massive than an electron?" and you answer (paraphrasing the Trump administration here) "The ability to measure with precision the mass of a proton is subject to continuing debate and dialogue." Have you lied?

      Well let's clarify: You haven't said anything counterfactual; new papers on more precise mass measurements of proton mass are being published every year. However you have deliberately left the false impression that the uncertainty in proton mass is more important than what we know about proton mass for purposes of answering the question.

      I submit that deliberately encouraging false belief is a form of lying, even if you don't say anything that is by itself false. That's how lies of omission work. It's the intent to create a false picture in your audience's mind that makes it a lie.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    3. Re:EPA to its employees: ignore science by magzteel · · Score: 1

      Err... no. The memo in question basically instructs staffers to use equivocal language to misrepresent the current state of evidence.

      Suppose somebody asks you, "Is a proton more massive than an electron?" and you answer (paraphrasing the Trump administration here) "The ability to measure with precision the mass of a proton is subject to continuing debate and dialogue." Have you lied?

      Well let's clarify: You haven't said anything counterfactual; new papers on more precise mass measurements of proton mass are being published every year. However you have deliberately left the false impression that the uncertainty in proton mass is more important than what we know about proton mass for purposes of answering the question.

      I submit that deliberately encouraging false belief is a form of lying, even if you don't say anything that is by itself false. That's how lies of omission work. It's the intent to create a false picture in your audience's mind that makes it a lie.

      Sorry, got my memos confused. But I don't have any issues with this one either

      "While there has been extensive research and a host of published reports on climate change, clear gaps remain including our understanding of the role of human activity and what we can do about it."

      "Human activity impacts our changing climate in some manner. The ability to measure with precision the degree and extent of that impact and what to do about it are subject to continuing debate and dialogue."

      Both statements are accurate and generally accepted.

    4. Re:EPA to its employees: ignore science by hey! · · Score: 1

      Both statements are accurate and generally accepted.

      But neither signifies what, in context, is being implied. Therefore they are lies of distraction.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    5. Re:EPA to its employees: ignore science by magzteel · · Score: 1

      Both statements are accurate and generally accepted.

      But neither signifies what, in context, is being implied. Therefore they are lies of distraction.

      Blame the ars article that presented them without context

  36. Re:Two Words by quantaman · · Score: 1

    I like your optimism that the EPA will behave differently than the FCC.

    The Internet is fundamentally cross-border, despite the ridiculousness of Pai I can see the FCC having legitimate cause to say that a state can't have their own set of Internet rules.

    But cars are different, the EPA shouldn't have any pretext to overrule state regulations.

    More importantly, California is a very big and very rich state, big and rich enough that car manufacturers might decide it's better just to make one model that hits California standards rather than investing in a second dirty model, especially when the federal standard is likely to revert once Trump is out.

    --
    I stole this Sig
  37. Re:Good, because Obama was unrealistic by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 1

    Not at all.

    Electric cars are rated at around 120 mpg for the purpose of the law. Let's assume 20% electric car sales.

    "Regular" gas sedans now get 35-40 mpg routinely, call it 35. Let's assume 30% gasser sales.

    "Hybrid" gas sedans get 50-70mpg average, call it 60, depending on whether they have a "plug in" option or not. Let's assume 20% of sales.

    "Other" cars like efficient sports (not muscle) cars can be made to average 40 mpg. 10% of sales.

    "Trucks and light trucks" should be able to eke out 25 mpg average. Last 20% of sales.

    (120*.2) + (35 * .3) + (60 * .2) +(40 * .1) + (25 * .2) = 55.5mpg.

    Perfectly doable with current tech assuming the mix of cars sold drifts towards hybrids and electrics over 7 years.

  38. Re:Two Words by Ichijo · · Score: 1

    The Internet is fundamentally cross-border...

    How does that cause net neutrality rules in one state to affect another state in a way that's different than California emissions rules affecting other states?

    --
    Any sufficiently unpopular but cohesive argument is indistinguishable from trolling.
  39. About time. by Charcharodon · · Score: 1
    I'd like to see them ditch the café ratings all together. Always seemed stupid to take the average of a fleet for economy. Its a scam in there somewhere to keep smaller businesses from building trucks to compete with the big players since they'd have to obey the fleet averages once they got to a decent size.

    Personally I am done buying gasoline engine vehicles. I've got my last SUV and motorcycle in 2011. I'll be picking up an electric car if I have to commute more than 10 miles. These days I mostly bicycle and only use the vehicles when I need to haul stuff or go a longer distance.

    I'm waiting for someone to come out with an electric 4x4 truck or SUV. (Most of the garbage they sell these days are neither, they just look pretty with no actual capability under the plastic and fake bumpers) and are way overpriced for what they are.) Then I'll pick up another.

    Tesla needs to hurry up and come out with one, though if the Semi ever got below $100K I would be interested. Road warrior it up and use it as an angry daily driver.

  40. Trump.. no by wolfheart111 · · Score: 1

    More like the Joker, who wants to watch the world burn...

    --
    [($)]
  41. Re:Good, because Obama was unrealistic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Those numbers are a bit optimistic.

    What we have today are electrics at about 90, regular sedans at about 31, hybrids at 45, sports cats about 25 and trucks at about 18. Granted they should improve a bit, but I'm not sure that 55 average is really attainable without some major changes in the tech.

    Now there are a few bright spots with things like opposed piston diesels, but I don't think they will be ready for mass production by 2025.

    Don't get me wrong, I'm all for better mpg levels across the fleet, I'm just not 100% sure that the current mandates are actually attainable.

  42. science and "reality" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Moreover, this "debate" is like most others - the so-called champions of science have long since abandoned any attempt to convince people about their theories or prove them [...]

    There are people who believe that the Earth is flat, that the moon landings were a hoax / directed by Stanley Kubrick, that the children in the Newton shooting were faked / false flag, and that 9/11 was an "inside job". And that's just the easy stuff: let's not get into evolution (which even the Catholic Church has accepted for many, many decades--though the Vatican runs their astronomical observatory and has a meteorite collection, so science isn't really a problem with them).

    The Left certainly has it's own issues (see sacking of James Damore) as you say, but treating the two sides the same is false equivalence IMHO.

    You cannot reason people out of a position they have not used reason to get into in the first place.

  43. If Obama saved us from a Nuclear attack by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Trump would undo it, just because. What a tool.

  44. Re:Good, because Obama was unrealistic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Obama's law said average "new cars and trucks to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025." That's impossible to attain in 7 years, so Trump is doing the right thing again and Liberal media is attacking him for it.

    Not if mild hybrids become more popular. It actually makes sense for trucks to use electric engines, especially at low speeds. This helps in reduced idling, thus upping mileage, and helps in towing (electric engines have awesome torque).

    I have no experience / knowledge of auto design, but it seems to me the next most logical step is: e-engine, modest battery, plug-in charging and/or range extender.

  45. Re:Good, because Obama was unrealistic by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 1

    Using your numbers, you get to 52 mpg with a mix of 15% trucks, 5% sports cars, 40% hybrids, 10% normal cars, 30% electrics. Still doable. Even more doable if automakers concentrate on weight reduction at the expense of some un-needed features (do able-bodied people really need electric chairs up front?).

  46. Re:Good, because Obama was unrealistic by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 1

    I may add that there are "credits" built in to the CAFE numbers for things like natural gas cars and ability to run on alternative fuels. So the MPG numbers used for the law tend to be better than at first glance.

  47. donkey by umghhh · · Score: 1

    based transportation is a goal.

  48. Tax fuel to mitigate pollution by Cajun+Hell · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Better solution would be to tax fuel at a fairly high rate and let the markets decide what to buy

    I totally agree, but then...

    Use the tax money to subsidize clean (electric) transport

    No, wait, no, stop. Don't subsidize anything with this money. And you can't afford to subsidize things anyway, once you look closer at your true liabilities.

    Use this money to mitigate the effects of the pollution. Plant forests with it. Build atmospheric scrubbers. Use it to treat people who are sick from pollution. Use it to build multi-trillion-dollar projects to put our coastal cities on stilts. That sort of stuff.

    The goal of the tax should simply be end the subsidy that we're currently giving to everyone who burns things. You won't need to give incentives to cleaner tech, because they'll already have the incentive of their users accruing less tax to clean up after themselves.

    --
    "Believe me!" -- Donald Trump
    1. Re:Tax fuel to mitigate pollution by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      You won't need to give incentives to cleaner tech

      That entirely depends on the rate at which you wish to solve the problem.

    2. Re:Tax fuel to mitigate pollution by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You could use it to maintain your roads too - fairly important stuff. Growing trees would be good - maybe buy back a bunch of land and do that to reduce dustbowls and what not.

  49. This is good. by WindBourne · · Score: 1

    Seriously, the best thing that can happen is that ownership of ICE remain high, part of which is due to low mpg. EVs are much cheaper to drive, but with the exception of Tesla, EVs are more expensive to buy Vs comparable ice cars. But as car makers produce more, prices are coming down. So high cost of ice ownership simply speeds EV ownership.

    --
    I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
    1. Re:This is good. by DigiShaman · · Score: 1

      From shale, to fracking, and wars, oil is seemly to volatile in price. I mean, it's cyclical; oil companies wax and wane with lots of hiring and firings based on the price of crude and cost to extract it.

      What I'm getting at is that once SUVs get cheaper, people that own them are going to scream bloody murder should oil spike up to 3 and 4 bucks a gallon. In some states, that could go as high as 5 bucks.

      When people "zig", it's best to "zag". Oil has been cheap for far too long. If I was to buy a new car today, I'd seriously look into a hybrid while they're still relatively cheap. Once oil goes up, so does the cost of hybrids as everyone is chasing that market too.

      --
      Life is not for the lazy.
  50. Whats up next, bringing back leaded gasoline? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How the US ever elected a mental patient for a president completely blows my mind.

    1. Re:Whats up next, bringing back leaded gasoline? by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

      It was easy. They just needed to make certain both major candidates running were mental patients. Voila: 2016 election.

  51. Re:Two Words by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The same way that States can't have stricter immigration laws than the Federal government. Air pollution is the domain of the EPA not the States. If States cannot have more-lax emissions standards than what EPA sets they likewise cannot have more-strict standards.

    Maybe the EPA shouldn't have been given so much power, but the Left kept on expanding the EPA's power for decades. Now when it does something you don't like suddenly there's a problem?

    Cry me a fucking river..

  52. Re:Two Words by quantaman · · Score: 1

    The Internet is fundamentally cross-border...

    How does that cause net neutrality rules in one state to affect another state in a way that's different than California emissions rules affecting other states?

    For vehicles it's easy to say if you want to register in state X you need to meet standard Y, other than affecting the market you don't really affect other states.

    But for Net Neutrality what happens if the server and client are both in NN states but an intermediate network isn't, is that intermediate carrier allowed to slow down the traffic? What if the ISP and user are both in NN states but the ISP routes the traffic out of state, are they allowed to degrade the traffic there?

    These aren't insurmountable problems by any means, but I could see the FCC being given the leeway to make those kinds of determinations, and if you care as little for evidence or proper procedure as Pai then you might take any excuse to block the states.

    --
    I stole this Sig
  53. Disingenuous and Sensationalist by sycodon · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The headlines on this story have all been uniformly Disingenuous and Sensationalist.

    Twelve Mile a gallon cars are NOT going to be coming back, Standards are not going to be weakened.

    What is changing is that the highly unrealistic target of 50 mpg for fleet average requirements in 2025 are going to be scaled down to something that is actually achievable.

    --
    When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
    1. Re:Disingenuous and Sensationalist by pushing-robot · · Score: 0

      Because of the math involved, CAFE standards =/= real MPG.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

      As you can see, those 'highly unrealistic' 2025 standards ranged from 43 MPG for a subcompact to 23 MPG for a light truck.

      If a vehicle does not meet that standard, the manufacturer is penalized $55 per mpg below the requirement. A $35,000 truck which only achieves 20.7 MPG (10% below the CAFE requirement) would incur a penalty of $126 -- 0.36% of the vehicle sales price.

      ...Which would, of course, be an unimaginable hardship for the manufacturer. Thank goodness we have Republicans to save the world from such a fate.

      --
      How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
    2. Re:Disingenuous and Sensationalist by rtb61 · · Score: 1, Troll

      Meanwhile the rest of the world will be achieve that 50 even 75 mpg by simply, generating that energy far more efficiently in a power station and using electric vehicles. Choke on those toxic exhaust fumes in you crumbling cities with D grade infrastructure, high unemployment, gun crime out of control, trigger happy law enforcers and with a military industrial complex more expensive than the rest of the world combined (you just know the US is heading there), hope it makes you feel all warm and cosy a night. From the rest of the world's perspective when this stuff leaks out, it just makes the entire US government look like it is just chock full shite and managed by greed driven stupidity.

      Those fuckers know the laws will be undone but hey, who gives a fuck, for two more years they increase profits and fuck everyone else. It really is just that shallow, this quarters profits and nothing more, privatise the profits and socialise the losses. They know those laws will be rewritten, they know they are dangerous and harmful, they know, they don't care, more money now. They know the punishment for lying is non existent, they know the punishment for purposeful mismanagement of government services is non existent, they know they are harming their own companies in the long run but bigger bonuses now. The diplomatic gap between the US and the rest of the world is growing at quite the pace, keep lying to yourselves like that and why would the rest of the world believe anything you tell them.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    3. Re: Disingenuous and Sensationalist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So spoketh the irrational anti-American dumbass who talks like he's never been to the US.

      I've travelled extensively around the world for decades. I'm always happiest returning home to the best country in the history of the world.

      But your jealousy and envy are amusing.

    4. Re:Disingenuous and Sensationalist by dgatwood · · Score: 4, Interesting

      What is changing is that the highly unrealistic target of 50 mpg for fleet average requirements in 2025 are going to be scaled down to something that is actually achievable.

      Unrealistic? Really? The Prius does better than that right now. And AFAIK, all EVs do *much* better than that in terms of miles per gallon-equivalent-amount-of-power. All it takes to hit that target is to produce more electric vehicles, more hybrids, and fewer gas hogs. It literally requires nothing more than changing the number of vehicles in each category that you build, while working to push down the price of electric vehicles to be more affordable. How is that unrealistic? Beyond, I mean, the possibly unrealistic goal of getting automakers to stop dragging their heels and whining and screaming like petulant children....

      --

      Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.

    5. Re:Disingenuous and Sensationalist by SvnLyrBrto · · Score: 2

      Hell... my plain old last-generation, not-hybrid, 2013 Mazda 3 tops 40 MPG on the freeway. First car I've owned, actually, that not just meets it's EPA estimate, but routinely beats it. The current gen already does better. And the new engine going into the next generation is even more efficient. No way is 50MPG unrealistic.

      --
      Imagine all the people...
    6. Re: Disingenuous and Sensationalist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Speaking as an American you are delusional. I bet you also support making kids recite a flag salemans jingle every morning.

    7. Re:Disingenuous and Sensationalist by Z00L00K · · Score: 2

      A lot simpler way to solve the demand for more fuel efficient vehicles would be to scrap the regulations and instead tax the fuel. A tax would be painful for the population but will also be beneficial in the long run - maybe that could help paying off the debt?

      --
      If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
    8. Re: Disingenuous and Sensationalist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What country?

    9. Re: Disingenuous and Sensationalist by aliquis · · Score: 1

      Don't seem to be true.

      Sad you had to get an earth-ruining president because media and the left all around the world is such lying bastards.

    10. Re: Disingenuous and Sensationalist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That be North Korea???? :-)

    11. Re: Disingenuous and Sensationalist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Strange, you don't write like a Norwegian.
      http://hdr.undp.org/en/2016-report/download

    12. Re: Disingenuous and Sensationalist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Is this english?

    13. Re:Disingenuous and Sensationalist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      50mpg is not unrealistic. It just requires smaller, lighter, less powerful cars.

      People got from point A to point B just fine for decades with 100 horsepower. We do not all need 300 horsepower cars that can do 0-60 in 6 seconds.

    14. Re:Disingenuous and Sensationalist by cmseagle · · Score: 1

      Standards are not going to be weakened.

      What is changing is that the highly unrealistic target of 50 mpg for fleet average requirements in 2025 are going to be scaled down

      How are those two statements compatible? "Scaling down the requirements" is the exact definition of weakening the standard, regardless of whether that standard was achievable.

    15. Re: Disingenuous and Sensationalist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      hell... my plain ol etc 2002 Mazda protege gets more than 40 mpg on the highway

    16. Re:Disingenuous and Sensationalist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There's nothing unrealistic about 50mpg cars. The auto industry has made them in the past, but has been balking on progress in order to kowtow to the oil industry rather than improving its vehicles.

    17. Re:Disingenuous and Sensationalist by Reziac · · Score: 2

      California already does that, in spades (about a third of the cost of gas at present). All it achieves is making poor people poorer, since it's largely working-class people who have to live far enough away from jobs that they're forced to commute (and no, it's not practical to have mass transit handle that when no two people go the same direction at the same time all over a metro area over 50 miles wide). And selling 'em all new efficient hybrids isn't such a good solution either. Most can't quality for a newer used car, let alone a new car loan.

      Also, the only thing higher taxes encourages government to do is... spend more. When did you last see higher taxes go toward reducing gov't debt?

      --
      ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
    18. Re:Disingenuous and Sensationalist by lsatenstein · · Score: 1

      The headlines on this story have all been uniformly Disingenuous and Sensationalist.

      Twelve Mile a gallon cars are NOT going to be coming back, Standards are not going to be weakened.

      What is changing is that the highly unrealistic target of 50 mpg for fleet average requirements in 2025 are going to be scaled down to something that is actually achievable.

      Its a achievable fleet objective. Especially when you mix in electric cars, propane powered cars, and the rest.

      --
      Leslie Satenstein Montreal Quebec Canada
    19. Re:Disingenuous and Sensationalist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Never going to happen. Look at California. Their gas tax wasn't raised in over 20 years (1994) and since that time inflation, fuel efficiency, and hybrids diminished its value. It was a herculean task to convince people it was needed and the only way it passed was because the Democrats have a super-majority. Even now, the state GOP is trying to overturn it through the initiative process.

    20. Re:Disingenuous and Sensationalist by suutar · · Score: 1

      he's saying _current_ standards will not be weakened, but _strengthening_ of standards will be delayed. Basically the difference between "slowing down" and "not accelerating"

    21. Re: Disingenuous and Sensationalist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Da

    22. Re:Disingenuous and Sensationalist by AutodidactLabrat · · Score: 1

      Regressive taxation again?
      Learned nothing from Reagan's failure to cut the debt with his giant regressive tax increase and cut in progressive income tax rates, nothing at all?

    23. Re:Disingenuous and Sensationalist by AutodidactLabrat · · Score: 1

      Bullshit. CA's gas tax rates are competitive with Texas rates.

    24. Re:Disingenuous and Sensationalist by Reziac · · Score: 2

      Not exactly.

      https://taxfoundation.org/stat...

      This is just the gas tax, tho. CA also charges sales tax (not included in the totals), and not just on the price of gas, but on the price after all other taxes are tacked onto it.

      --
      ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
    25. Re:Disingenuous and Sensationalist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think, technocratically, you're right. But politically it would not be simpler. "Removing" a regulation versus levying a tax? Really?

    26. Re:Disingenuous and Sensationalist by AutodidactLabrat · · Score: 1

      Oh,yes, let's trust in Grover Norquist's Thunk Tank over reality.
      TAXFOUNDATION?
      No wonder you suffer Trumpery.

  54. Um... Yes by rsilvergun · · Score: 1

    the last spending bill was $1.3 Trillion, of which nearly $700 billion is military. 700/1300 = 53% (rounding down since 'nearly'). And if you think the next spending bill will be any different you haven't been paying attention to who's running the government.

    --
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  55. Pruitt by brunnegd · · Score: 1

    Pruitt would not know science if it sat on his face.

  56. You've clearly never heard of California by skam240 · · Score: 1

    You've clearly never heard of California

    http://www.slate.com/articles/...

    --
    I ignore Anonymous Coward posts. If you want to discuss something, that's awesome. Log in.
  57. Re:Good, because Obama was unrealistic by omnichad · · Score: 1

    It's not anywhere near 2025 yet - why quit trying so early?

  58. Let them. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's time for any Americans who still have a brain, wherewithal, and the desire for a brighter future for themselves and their offspring to GTFO.

    We can't MAGA with all these mouthbreathers, government/political apologists, and general sheeple standing in our way AND outbreeding us.

    It is time to realize that America is done, and figure out how the driven and the intellectuals amongst us can create a new society, purchase or extract precious minerals, and generally make a society that follows the ideals espoused by the Constitution, Declaration, etc but never actually implemented in the Nation that espouses their virtues while living up to few if any of them.

    1. Re: Let them. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This, so true

  59. Re:Good, because Obama was unrealistic by iamhassi · · Score: 1

    Regular mid-sized sedans do not average 35-40mpg. Midsized hybrid sedans do not average 50-70mpg. Electric vehicles only account for 1% of sales and hybrids only account for 2% of sales so I don't know why you believe those numbers will grow from 3% to 40% in only 7 years http://www.hybridcars.com/dece...

    --
    my karma will be here long after I'm gone
  60. Re:Good, because Obama was unrealistic by iamhassi · · Score: 1

    No one actually makes a hybrid truck yet because hybrid trucks have been notoriously slower than their V8 counterparts, tow far less and cost far more so it was a lose lose lose scenario. Ironically, none of the most efficient trucks on hybridcars.com are hybrid trucks http://www.hybridcars.com/amer...

    --
    my karma will be here long after I'm gone
  61. good job by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is why i still only by Honda and Toyota. If you really think suv is the future, then remember 2008? Next time, I will be extremely vocal about not bailing you shit-cos out.

  62. So the rest of the world moves forward by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The rest of the world is moving towards electrification, and USA is going to make itself great again by going backwards.

    It will be fun to visit, show the kids a giant museum they can interact with.

  63. Does that mean Volkswagen can get a refund by ayesnymous · · Score: 1

    on their fine for the emissions scandal?

  64. US The world by aepervius · · Score: 1

    "giving them ammunition to potentially roll back industry standards worldwide"

    I am sorry ? But since then the US is setting standard WORLDWIDE on emission, pollution , or whatnot ? For fuck's sake they can't even adhere to a unit measurement standard like the meter...

    --
    C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/
    visit randi.org
  65. Arguably not by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Firstly the US started MAD, Russian did not have really that amny A bomb , the US generals lied to your own president and pretended they had a lot of them, thus they started the nuke run since the russian saw the US having a lot of nuke and they needed at least to have the same number to be able to compete, or even more since their aviation was not as advanced as the US. So thank to you asshole to having started that. Arguably you *may* have helped a bit in some region, but you definitively destabilized a lot of other region, south america certainly won't thank you about non evasion since your CIA destabilized a lot of government there. The Jury is still out whether you helped or thing would have been identical without your military in western europe - the danger of russia invasion being vastly dependent on your own military action. For russia it was never in their interrest to invade europe, especially with the few economic ties they had in the 70-80 ies.

    So no your military did not stabilize the world until the 90ies. Afterward ? It destabilized it frankly. Yes saddam and khaddafi were horrible dictator, but they stabilized the regions. Thanks to you the region has been a horrible mess since then. Arguably the jury is out for Afghanistan, they seem to go back as they were before your intervention, but it seem you killed a lot of civilian there which would have other wise lived. . The myth that the US military protected the world is just a myth. A propaganda by your own country.

  66. -r ex ede DVD 4 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Rcx free et

  67. Re:Two Words by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Congress could pass a law or Act that mandates uniform emissions standards nationwide with EPA enforcing them, or Trump could simply use that pen and phone that your boy Obama left behind that you liked so well when he used it for what you wanted.

    That's one of the bad things about having a large and powerful Federal government and weaponizing it against political opponents...it's not always the people you agree with that control it. One must consider the implications of one's political opponents inevitably coming into possession of the tools of partisan political government power you advocate for and create to further one's own agendas, regardless of Party or ideology. If left unchecked it eventually reaches a tipping-point and ends with one side finally seizing total power once they gain office and then the brutal and extremely bloody & horrific pogroms and cleansings begin.

    Stop deciding on issues with emotion and start using logic and reason. Outrage and anger prevents rational thought and critical thinking.

  68. Treason by idji · · Score: 1

    When will the President of Trumpistan and the Head of the Environmental Destruction Agency be put on trial for serving their swamp buddies instead of serving the people? "Democracy is direct self-government, over all the people, by all the people, for all the people.”

  69. Re:Naturally This Will Upset People Because Reason by Barsteward · · Score: 1

    a lot of countries outside the USA are proposing no more sales of ICE cars around 2025 and beyond. Seems like Norway is starting the trend https://www.independent.co.uk/...

    --
    "The hands that help are better far than lips that pray." - Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899)
  70. Ah yes THAT idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Of course! Tax for fuel!

    Go ahead, I am sure the persons that drives a $150,000 car will feel the hurt of a fuel tax.

    We spare no expenses. Except for the ordinary folks. Fuck em.

    1. Re: Ah yes THAT idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Where do you drive that such card make up a significant percentage of traffic?

    2. Re:Ah yes THAT idea by SvnLyrBrto · · Score: 1

      How many $150K cars are sold vs. $25K cars? Orders of magnitude fewer. $150K cars are a rounding error when it comes to pollution numbers. You don't affect change by pruning the outliers. You do it by improving the performance of the mainstream.

      --
      Imagine all the people...
  71. We're screwed by raind · · Score: 1

    Our politicians have let the people down. Again.
    Thanks Trump voters.

    --
    Get up!
  72. Most people drive to work, school, and stores. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Your use case is so out of the norm it's not even worth mentioning.

    An imaginary race. Drive for fun?

    1. Re:Most people drive to work, school, and stores. by rally2xs · · Score: 1

      Its not out of the norm, lots and lots of people take driving vacations involving hundreds of miles a day of travel. Its the USA, which is huge. If you're going to start in the midwest and visit Yellowstone, Devil's Tower, maybe Pikes Peak, swing down to the Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest, etc. you're going to be traversing 100's of miles a day. Recharging for hours after 300 miles or so just doesn't work.

      My Subaru WRX isn't a "rally car", its a STOCK Subaru WRX. I just happen to use it for a rather sedate form of road rally, where sudden acceleration bursts are still an advantage. But it ain't the races you see on TV.

      Anyway, if the car I'm considering requires a lot of time to "refuel", then I don't consider it. A lot of people won't - I've been doing these long distance drives my whole life. Friend of my was stationed in Georgia in the Army, and would drive up to Ohio on weekends to visit his family - that's probably 600 miles. Hours to recharge after 300 miles wouldn't work for that either.

      Pretty much everyone has some occasion to drive 100's of miles, and won't consider something that won't do that when forking over $30K+ or better for the only car they can afford.

    2. Re:Most people drive to work, school, and stores. by werepants · · Score: 1

      Recent Volt owner here, and I bet the Volt beats your Subie off the line. You'll win in the 0-60MPH and 1/4 mile, but from 0-30MPH, electric is amazingly quick because of the immense torque - you also don't have downshifts that effectively count as periods of 0 acceleration.

      So, I think for the use case you describe, a Volt would probably be competitive with a WRX (and undoubtedly much better than a Cherokee).

  73. EPA Prepares To Roll Back... by Reziac · · Score: 1

    ... Rules Requiring Cars To Be Unrealistically Cleaner and Impossibly More Efficient

    FTFY.

    --
    ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
  74. Fine, however ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... there is no fucking way the taxpayers of this country should have to bail Detroit out, again.

    If the fuckers start building Trump-mobiles that no one but Trumpster-divers want to buy, when they next recession hits and they start to have problems, they should be allowed to fail this time.

    Holy crap Trumpicans, it's only been ten years since the Great Recession, can you really not remember what caused it? Or, is it just that you all got so damn rich during it, and afterwards, that you can't wait to start another one?

  75. New definition for "cleaner" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Apparently, CO_2 is now "dirty," with news photos to prove it, of taipipes spewing blue smoke, and smokestacks spewing vast quantities of CO_2 ash and soot.

  76. This will all be moot anyway when gas goes up. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    As was seen in the late aughts, when oil spikes due to some poorly thought out military engagement, economic bubble burst, or zero thought comment from our nation's leadership, the market will self correct.

    If five dollar a gallon fuel became the new normal, consumer demand will drive for for fuel efficiency. Let the free market drive the innovation, not overregulation.

    Personally, I think most of my fellow Americans are short sighted and not long term focused. I drive a moderately fuel efficient midsize domestic sedan and have never felt like I needed an SUV/CUV. I still prefer an ICE vehicle until the infrastructure is in place for an alternative to be common enough to take place. The market will get there on its own, though.

  77. Re:Two Words by jeff4747 · · Score: 1

    Congress could pass a law or Act that mandates uniform emissions standards nationwide with EPA enforcing them

    Congress could also pass a law requiring blowjobs every Tuesday. It's about as likely to pass.

    See, CA and all the other states that passed laws which said "follow CA's rules" would not want such a law to pass, killing it in the Senate.

    Trump could simply use that pen and phone that your boy Obama left behind that you liked so well when he used it for what you wanted.

    And do what with it? Despite your wet dreams, he is not God-emperor.

    That's one of the bad things about having a large and powerful Federal government

    Are you drunk?

    The subject at hand is a perfect example of Federalism. California wants stricter air quality controls, so it enacted state laws. Which only apply in the state. So where's the ebil federal government out to seize your guns....er....tailpipes?

    Stop deciding on issues with emotion and start using logic and reason

    Says the guy who's jealous of Obama's "pen".

  78. Re:Good, because Obama was unrealistic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Trucks tend to have diesel engines and hybrid configurations are much less useful with a diesel engine.

  79. Cleaner != More Efficient by wisnoskij · · Score: 1

    Ask anyone who drives a diesel. Their fuel efficiency has tanked with the stricter regulations. A huge portion of traffic are commercial highway tractors, and they simply are no longer are the super fuel efficient beasts that they used to be, due solely to emission laws.

    --
    Troll is not a replacement for I disagree.