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Gas Prices, Car Prices and the New Congress

By Joe Benton
ConsumerAffairs.com

November 9, 2006

• New Congress Faces Technology, Privacy Issues • Gas Prices, Car Prices and the New Congress • New Congress Likely to be More Pro-Consumer • States Elect New Top Cops to Fight Crime, Protect Consumers • Glitches Plague Voters On Election Day

Consumers are likely to both benefit and pay at the gas pump and in the new car showroom as the Democratic Congress establishes an agenda for the next two years.

Items high on the Democrats' list will probably increase fuel costs while providing better average mileage in safer vehicles.

Calls to regulate carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas linked to global warming, are certain to come quickly when Congress convenes. California has already sued the largest six automakers claiming they are harming California residents and destroying the environment. California Democrat Nancy Pelosi, the likely next Speaker of the House has supported those efforts.

The most liberal members of the new Congress will probably push for a steep increase in Corporate Average Fuel Economy for passenger cars. Those fuel mileage standards have not been increased since 1985.

Several prominent Democrats in both the Senate and House have introduced bills to raise gas mileage requirements by 40 percent.

The most senior Democrat in the House, John Dingell of Michigan, said he will use his newly-restored power to speed a wider use of diesel power in U.S. cars and trucks. He will be chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Dingell has spent his career in Congress defending the U.S. auto industry and he promised to once again help automakers. He sidestepped a question about higher fuel economy standards for U.S. automakers but said he would use his committee's investigative power to answer the question, "Why can't we move faster with diesel?"

The intersection where automakers' and consumers' interests collide is where old political hands fashion compromises that mollify both parties -- a talent that was sadly lacking in the latter years of the GOP-dominated sessions.

Safety Concerns

As head of Public Citizen, Joan Claybrook is one of the leading auto safety advocates in the country. At the top of her list is increasing auto roof strength and mandating side air bags as well as an early warning system for spotting vehicle defects at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The automakers are expected to push for more incentives for alternative fuels and help in containing their massive health care issues.

Democratic control of Capitol Hill also could put claims of unfair trade practices in other countries front and center, potentially raising the price of imported cars and trucks.

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