General Motors’ Bob Lutz puts it this way: “[CAFE is] like trying to combat obesity by forcing clothing manufacturers to manufacture only small sizes. It’s doomed to failure because the market mechanism isn’t at work.” In many ways, he’s right. And a study from the Congressional Budget
Office agrees that a gas tax would cost less to the economy, save more in fuel and cut emissions more efficiently than raising CAFE standards would. Trouble is, a gas tax is a political non-starter. Its burden falls unevenly through the economy, hitting trucking and agriculture, for example, much harder than commuters. And with prices at the pump holding stubbornly at $3 a gallon, no politician in his right mind is going add to that pain.
Source: Wall Street Journal
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