A Global Climate Treaty and Your Mobility, Your Wallet, and Your Safety U.S. auto consumers may have to drive less, pay more for their cars and gas, and suffer more injuries and fatalities if a global climate treaty forces America to consume less fuel, says James D. Johnston, author of a new book published by the American Enterprise Institute. As UN negotiators meet in Kyoto this week to consider a treaty to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, Johnston cautions that U.S. representatives appear ready to compromise the rights and mobility of Americans. One of the most likely regulations would be more stringent fuel-economy standards. Johnston, a former General Motors executive, says automobile manufacturers would have to add expensive new technologies and reduce vehicle size and weight to manufacture cars that use less fuel.
Studies show small cars have twice the fatality rate of large ones.
Johnston says U.S. government officials have considered increasing gasoline taxes, taxing employee parking, and even prohibiting driving on some days or in some places. Regulations to reduce energy consumption would impose huge costs on U.S. consumers for benefits that have not yet been determined. Johnston cites numerous scientific findings that reflect much uncertainty about the roles of various climatic factors, such as the oceans, clouds, water vapor, airborne particles, the sun, and greenhouse gases. He advocates research to improve scientific understanding of global climate changes, but he says consumers should not have to pay for regulatory benefits that are speculative at best. Driving America also addresses other issues important to motorists, including new clean air standards from the Environmental Protection Agency, the deterioration of the U.S. road and highway system, and motor vehicle safety.