THE AUTOMOBILE'S ROLE IN A NATIONAL ENERGY POLICY
This article calls attention to certain facts about the automobile and discusses their implications as regards a national energy policy. Briefly, these facts are as follows: (1) safety and emissions regulations already on the books are in direct conflict with improved fuel economy; (2) there is already a strong trend to smaller, lighter, more economical vehicles; (3) regulations designed to reduce fuel consumption of new cars would have only a very small effect in the next few years when the energy crisis will be most serious; (4) government policy mandating the use of small cars may not be in the public interest, since government supported studies show greater probability of serious injuries or death when smaller cars are involved in accidents; and (5) proposals to replace vehicles with some type of mass transit would have only limited effect on total energy consumption. It is concluded that (1) fuel economy regulations on new cars are not necessary, will have only a limited effect on fuel consumption, and can be counter-productive; and (2) a national energy policy should have the objectives of controlling waste whereever it occurs, promoting the most efficient use of various types of energy, and encouraging the development of new sources of energy.
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Supplemental Notes:
- Proceedings of the First Annual AIChE Southwestern Ohio Conference on Energy and the Environment held in Oxford, Ohio, October 25-26, 1973.
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Corporate Authors:
American Institute of Chemical Engineers
140 East Monument Avenue
Dayton, OH United States 45402 -
Authors:
- Connolly, C H
- Conference:
- Publication Date: 1974
Media Info
- Features: References;
- Pagination: p. 22-25
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Air quality management; Automobiles; Compact automobiles; Energy; Energy resources; Fuel consumption; Policy; Public transit; Regulations; Safety
- Uncontrolled Terms: Energy crisis
- Old TRIS Terms: Small car
- Subject Areas: Energy; Highways; Law; Policy; Public Transportation; Safety and Human Factors;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 00095044
- Record Type: Publication
- Files: TRIS
- Created Date: May 7 1975 12:00AM