U.S. agency delays report on saving fuel
By Danny Hakim The New York Times
FRIDAY, JULY 29, 2005
DETROIT With Congress poised for a final vote on the energy bill, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has made an 11th-hour decision to delay the planned release of an annual report on fuel economy.
But a copy of the report, which had been scheduled for publication on Wednesday, was sent to The New York Times by a member of the agency's communications staff just minutes before the decision was made on Tuesday to delay it.
The report shows that loopholes in American fuel economy regulations have allowed automakers to produce cars and trucks that are significantly less fuel-efficient, on average, than they were in the late 1980s.
Releasing the report this week would have been inopportune for the Bush administration, its critics said, because it would have come on the eve of a final vote in Congress on energy legislation six years in the making. The bill, as it stands, largely ignores the issue of automotive mileage regulations.
The executive summary of the report acknowledges that "fuel economy is directly related to energy security," because consumer cars and trucks account for about 40 percent of the United States' oil consumption. But data in the report show that the auto industry is not making progress in improving fuel economy, and environmentalists say the energy bill will do little to prod them further.
"Something's fishy when the Bush administration delays a report showing no improvement in fuel economy until after passage of their energy bill, which fails to improve fuel economy," said Daniel Becker, the top global-warming strategist for the Sierra Club.
Eryn Witcher, a spokeswoman for the agency, said the timing of the release of the report had nothing to do with the energy bill deliberations.
DETROIT With Congress poised for a final vote on the energy bill, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has made an 11th-hour decision to delay the planned release of an annual report on fuel economy.
But a copy of the report, which had been scheduled for publication on Wednesday, was sent to The New York Times by a member of the agency's communications staff just minutes before the decision was made on Tuesday to delay it.
The report shows that loopholes in American fuel economy regulations have allowed automakers to produce cars and trucks that are significantly less fuel-efficient, on average, than they were in the late 1980s.
Releasing the report this week would have been inopportune for the Bush administration, its critics said, because it would have come on the eve of a final vote in Congress on energy legislation six years in the making. The bill, as it stands, largely ignores the issue of automotive mileage regulations.
The executive summary of the report acknowledges that "fuel economy is directly related to energy security," because consumer cars and trucks account for about 40 percent of the United States' oil consumption. But data in the report show that the auto industry is not making progress in improving fuel economy, and environmentalists say the energy bill will do little to prod them further.
"Something's fishy when the Bush administration delays a report showing no improvement in fuel economy until after passage of their energy bill, which fails to improve fuel economy," said Daniel Becker, the top global-warming strategist for the Sierra Club.
Eryn Witcher, a spokeswoman for the agency, said the timing of the release of the report had nothing to do with the energy bill deliberations.
DETROIT With Congress poised for a final vote on the energy bill, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has made an 11th-hour decision to delay the planned release of an annual report on fuel economy.
But a copy of the report, which had been scheduled for publication on Wednesday, was sent to The New York Times by a member of the agency's communications staff just minutes before the decision was made on Tuesday to delay it.
The report shows that loopholes in American fuel economy regulations have allowed automakers to produce cars and trucks that are significantly less fuel-efficient, on average, than they were in the late 1980s.
Releasing the report this week would have been inopportune for the Bush administration, its critics said, because it would have come on the eve of a final vote in Congress on energy legislation six years in the making. The bill, as it stands, largely ignores the issue of automotive mileage regulations.
The executive summary of the report acknowledges that "fuel economy is directly related to energy security," because consumer cars and trucks account for about 40 percent of the United States' oil consumption. But data in the report show that the auto industry is not making progress in improving fuel economy, and environmentalists say the energy bill will do little to prod them further.
"Something's fishy when the Bush administration delays a report showing no improvement in fuel economy until after passage of their energy bill, which fails to improve fuel economy," said Daniel Becker, the top global-warming strategist for the Sierra Club.
Eryn Witcher, a spokeswoman for the agency, said the timing of the release of the report had nothing to do with the energy bill deliberations.
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