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The New CAFE Standards: Are They Enough on Their Own?

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  • McConnell, Virginia

    (Resources for the Future)

Abstract

New Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards were recently passed in the United States with the twin goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and oil use. The new standards represent a dramatic change from recent policy. This paper examines the key features of the new rules, and compares them to previous CAFE standards in terms of flexibility and structure. The importance of consumer preferences and market forces on CAFE outcomes are identified. In the second part of the paper, the perspective of the consumer is explored. Consumer assessments of fuel economy savings with more fuel-efficient vehicles may be biased or incomplete, leading many to argue that there is an “energy efficiency gap” in consumer demand for vehicles. Reasons for such a gap, such as market failures, behavioral responses, and market barriers, are summarized. The implications for policy are discussed, including the role of combining CAFE with other policies.

Suggested Citation

  • McConnell, Virginia, 2013. "The New CAFE Standards: Are They Enough on Their Own?," RFF Working Paper Series dp-13-14, Resources for the Future.
    • Handle: RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-13-14
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Leard, Benjamin & McConnell, Virginia, 2015. "New Markets for Pollution and Energy Efficiency: Credit Trading under Automobile Greenhouse Gas and Fuel Economy StandardsAbstract: Recent changes to the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standard," RFF Working Paper Series dp-15-16, Resources for the Future.
    2. West, Jeremy & Hoekstra, Mark & Meer, Jonathan & Puller, Steven L., 2017. "Vehicle miles (not) traveled: Fuel economy requirements, vehicle characteristics, and household driving," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 65-81.
    3. O'Rear, Eric G. & Sarica, Kemal & Tyner, Wallace E., 2015. "Analysis of impacts of alternative policies aimed at increasing US energy independence and reducing GHG emissions," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 121-133.
    4. Jeremy West & Mark Hoekstra & Jonathan Meer & Steven L. Puller, 2015. "Vehicle Miles (Not) Traveled: Why Fuel Economy Requirements Don't Increase Household Driving," NBER Working Papers 21194, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Krupnick, Alan & Darmstadter, Joel & Richardson, Nathan & McLaughlin, Katrina, 2015. "Putting a Carbon Charge on Federal Coal: Legal and Economic Issues," RFF Working Paper Series dp-15-13, Resources for the Future.
    6. Sen, Burak & Noori, Mehdi & Tatari, Omer, 2017. "Will Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) Standard help? Modeling CAFE's impact on market share of electric vehicles," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 279-287.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    CAFE; vehicle regulation; energy efficiency; environmental policy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q42 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Alternative Energy Sources
    • Q48 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Government Policy
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy

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