Steve Forbes argues from history against raising the mandatory fuel economy standards:

CAFE led automobile manufacturers to make smaller vehicles with cheaper, lighter materials. The all too predictable result was more mayhem on the highways, since these cars were less able to withstand crashes and rollovers. Experts differ on the estimates, but lighter vehicles have led to tens of thousands of additional deaths since the 1970s.

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Stiffer CAFE standards will also make cars more expensive, which is just what beleaguered Detroit needs right now. And let’s not forget that SUVs were designed to qualify as light trucks because those are allowed a lower level of fuel efficiency. When new regulations are put in play, clever lawyers will always conjure up ways to get around them—if that’s what the market demands.

Later on, Forbes advocates raising gasoline taxes — how could you, sir :) — but then worms out of it by saying that gasoline prices are already producing the desired effect. He then goes into the effects of not drilling and the subsidized demand for ethanol. Money quote:

Free people will get all this right—if Washington will only let us.