Study says fuel efficiency would add jobs

A coalition of investors and environmentalists is claiming that a controversial new 54.5 mpg auto fuel economy standard planned by the Obama administration would create 34,000 new jobs in New York State, even though auto dealers worry that it will make cars unaffordable for many.

Nationally, about 484,000 new jobs would result if the fuel economy standard rose to that level by 2025, claims a study done for the group, Ceres, which is based in Boston. The study contends that the extra jobs would result from Americans spending the savings on fuel costs — a purported $107 billion in 2030 — elsewhere in the economy, including on new, more fuel efficient cars.

The estimates were calculated by an independent economic research and management consulting firm, Management Information Services, Inc., based in Washington.

The administration revealed the 54.5 mpg idea in July and is expected next week to make it a formal proposal, which a final ruling probably next summer.

Although automakers agreed to the new standard, the National Automobile Dealers Association has expressed concern that the technology required to enact it would increase car prices and restrict consumer choices of vehicles.

“We are concerned that the administration expects consumers to embrace vehicles that will cost thousands of dollars more but may not meet their needs,” the group wrote in a letter Nov. 2 to the Union of Concerned Scientists, which supports the higher requirement.

The dealer group estimates that the requirement will add an average of as much as $2,600 to the price of a car by 2025.

The study done for Ceres, however, claims that higher vehicle prices would be recouped in fuel savings in as little as two years.

Laws now on the books for 2012 through 2016 phase in an average fleet efficiency of 34.1 mpg, at a cost that the auto industry has estimated at $51.7 billion. The requirement for 2011 cars and trucks was an average per manufacturer of 27.3 mpg.