[trademaster]

The lead ambition of Corporate Average Fuel Economy is not to reduce pollution, that's your first mistake. That is a very small portion of the intent of CAFE. CAFE was introduced after the Arab Oil Embargo in an attempt to hedge demand against volatility and disruption in supply as to avoid resultant recession. The footprint function wasn't even introduced until 2011, nearly 40 years after the legislation was first passed. CAFE standards are regulated by the NHTSA, not the EPA. The EPA simply determines the methodology of measurement of vehicle fuel efficiency by which the NHTSA develops CAFE standards. Read up on the 1973 Yom Kippur attack on Israel by Egypt and Syria, the resultant NATO "separation" and near miss of nuclear war, the OAPEC embargo and US oil crisis, the 1973-1974 US stock market crash, and the policy development in the following half-decade. You will see that it is impossible to discuss CAFE in any regard without getting deeply political. CAFE is a legislative tool to remove as much power over the US economy from the hands of Arab oil producing countries as is feasible.