[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 23 (Thursday, March 3, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E354]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               AMERICA'S MISLEADING GAS MILEAGE STICKERS

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                         HON. NANCY L. JOHNSON

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 3, 2005

  Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address an 
issue that should trouble America's consumers. Seventeen million new 
cars were sold in 2004 and not one had accurate gas mileage rates 
posted on the window stickers.
  Unbeknownst to America's drivers, the gas mileage stickers on their 
cars are wrong, inflating fuel economy figures by up to 300 percent. 
Worse, the EPA has known their tests are to blame. The tests used by 
the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to measure fuel economy are 
30 years old and are based on car technology from the late 1970s and 
1980s.
  The bogus tests results mislead consumers into thinking they are 
getting better mileage on the road--and a better deal at the gas pump--
than they really are. This year alone, American consumers will spend 
about $20 billion more on gasoline than they expect because of the 
misleading gas mileage stickers. Talk about a pocket-book issue.
  Because changing these tests requires a change in the law, I am proud 
to introduce the ``Fuel Efficiency Truth-in-Advertising Act'' with my 
colleague Congressman Rush Holt. My legislation requires the EPA to 
update its fuel economy testing procedures to reflect today's ``real 
life'' circumstances and the use of ``real world'' gasoline. If this 
legislation is enacted, when it says 35 miles-per-gallon on the 
sticker, drivers will get 35 miles-per-gallon on the road.
  An example of a flaw in EPA's current method is underestimating 
highway speeds. The EPA highway cycle assumes an average speed of 48 
mph and a top speed of 60 mph. Many State highway speed limits are set 
at or above 65 mph and government data indicates that fuel economy can 
drop by 17 percent for modern vehicles that drive at 70 mph instead of 
55 mph.
  Another flaw is in the type of fuel used for engine certification. 
Fuels used for engine certification tests are artificial. The EPA uses 
highly refined fuel, not what we consume in our cars every day. Using 
these artificial fuels may be fine from a laboratory standpoint, but 
they don't help drivers when they overstate actual fuel economy.
  There's more. The tests assume acceleration and braking rates that 
don't match reality. They overstate trip lengths. They understate 
increased idling and stop-and-go traffic in our expanding urban areas. 
They keep the air-conditioner off, while flipping on the A/C reduces 
gas mileage by 2.5 miles-per-gallon.
  We would not tolerate 30-year-old tests for anything--so why do we 
allow it for gas mileage? Make no mistake, this is a pocketbook issue 
for Americans who are pinched by the high price of gasoline. The easy 
and common-sense steps this bill calls for will give every future car 
owner the truth--the truth about how their cars will perform, and the 
truth about how much they're going to spend on gasoline every year.
  AAA, the Nation's largest auto club with 47 million members, supports 
this bill. So does the Union of Concerned Scientists, the Sierra Club 
and a host of consumer, scientific, and environmental groups.
  This broad-based and diverse coalition believes, as I do, that 
Americans deserve better than the results of a 30-year-old test. We 
recognize that buying a car is a huge investment in most Americans' 
lives, and the government should be helping consumers make smart 
choices, not misleading them.
  And so I ask my colleagues to join with me in supporting the Fuel 
Efficiency Truth in Advertising Act. Do it for the hundreds of 
thousands of car owners in your districts who deserve the truth--not 
bogus test results.

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