March 29, 2024

Negotiators Nearing Deal on Mileage for Vehicles

The administration had earlier proposed a goal of 56.2 miles per gallon, while Detroit automakers and Michigan lawmakers have been pushing for a lower standard.

But people close to the talks said Tuesday that some automakers were now willing to support a 54.5 m.p.g. rule, particularly because the ramp-up period is less aggressive for light trucks than for passenger cars. The new proposal would almost double the current fuel-efficiency standards of about 27.8 m.p.g.

The talks among the administration, automakers, environmental groups and California officials have been continuing for weeks, as the various sides grappled with how to reduce global warming emissions, cut fuel consumption and reduce the costs that consumers pay at the pump.

The new administration proposal calls for increasing fuel efficiency for light trucks by 3.5 percent annually from 2017 to 2021. It would then be increased by 5 percent a year from 2022 to 2025.

Passenger cars would need to become 5 percent more efficient every year over the entire eight-year span of the standard.

In 2009, automakers agreed to an administration plan to increase fuel economy to about 35 m.p.g. by 2016.

The proposed standard has the potential to curtail vehicle emissions drastically and reduce the nation’s dependence on oil. However, industry groups have argued that the changes could add thousands of dollars to the price of new vehicles in the showroom.

There was no immediate comment from the White House on Tuesday, but people familiar with the discussions said the talks appeared to be nearing a conclusion.

“We are encouraged by the strong, positive feedback we are receiving from many companies and look forward to wrapping up the discussions in the near future,” said an administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the negotiations were continuing.

One item still under intense discussion is the so-called midterm review of the standard. Environmentalists were concerned that a review stipulation could allow automakers to circumvent increases in fuel efficiency in the latter stages of the agreement.

“Until the White House provides us the full details, we are not in a position to assess whether this a strong proposal or whether there are any significant flaws,” said Roland Hwang, the transportation program director at the Natural Resources Defense Council in San Francisco.

A spokesman for General Motors, Greg Martin, said the nation’s largest auto company was optimistic that an agreement could be reached that balanced the economic concerns of the industry with the goal of reducing fuel consumption.

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Economix: The Factory Age Isn’t Over

Mira Oberman/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

The number of factories in the United States employing more than 1,000 workers fell by one-third from 1997 to 2007, leaving 1,014 such factories. This probably will not surprise you. The shattered windows of empty factories have become a familiar sight.

But a new study from the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis puts an interesting twist on this familiar narrative. It reports that most of those factories did not close. They simply employ less people.

Of the factories that fell from the list of large employers, the study found that 48 percent still employed more than 500 people. Another 7 percent employed from 250 to 500 people. The remainder either had closed or employed fewer than 250 people.

The numbers predate the recession, making it likely that more of those factories have since closed or shed workers. But particularly at this moment, as millions of Americans struggle to find work, the study offers a reminder that our manufacturing base is to some extent a victim of its own success. In 1950, the United States Steel Corporation employed 30,000 workers at its plant in Gary, Ind. Today that factory employs only 5,000 workers. But they produce more steel: 7.5 million tons a year now, compared with 6 million tons then.

The study also includes an interesting list of new super factories, plants that employ at least 2,500 people. There were only 15 such factories. Four of them were built to make light trucks. Three were built to kill chickens. One makes guided missiles.

Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=b674283eda8216a0aaf596737ffa6ebb