That is going to mean a massive loss of jobs, as we saw. Some of the costs, however, aren't that obvious. I'll point to how impacts will be lethal and inequitable, hurting the poor the hardest. This proposal, we'd be told, is good for the environment and good for consumers. But let's look at some of the implications of this proposal.
Smaller cars are the inevitable result of energy reduction mandates.
The human cost of CAFE standards or for average fuel economy standards is already high. CAFE's tragic and disguised blood for oil tradeoff has gone on far too long. To meet the current standard of 27.5, cars have steadily been downsized in size and weight. In the last 20 years, CAFE has caused about a 500-pound drop in the average weight of cars, and it has made cars less safe. If the standard were raised to 40 miles an hour, a 1992 study by John Graham of Harvard saidethat there would be an additional 5.5 percent increase in highway deaths, resulting in a total of 3,800- 5,800 fatalities.