Political Quotes

“I remind all those who are following the debate that it is relatively easy to set targets of achievement, and in this particular bill we have set the year 2013 in which to achieve 35 miles per gallon under CAFE. We are now roughly at 24. Our past experience with setting these kinds of goals is not very good. The first thing that is wrong with this is, in another 10 or 11 years many of us are not going to be here, so we are not going to be held accountable, because the goals we set today and our ability to achieve them in 10 or 11 years are fraught with an awful lot of inconsistencies based particularly on past history. The CAFE programs have led to an increase in fleet average fuel economy from 13 miles per gallon in 1975 to 22 miles per gallon in 1987. The 1987 fleetwide fuel economy stagnated as consumers shifted their purchase patterns to light trucks and SUVs that were covered by the lower CAFE standards.”