Mitt Romney

Fuel Efficiency

Romney opposes federal fuel efficiency standards:

Romney blamed “disadvantageous” fuel efficiency standards for struggles of US auto companies. Romney’s campaign website published a transcript from an appearance he made on WJR Radio in Boston, in which Romney said that one of the reasons that U.S. automakers “got in trouble” was that “the government put in place CAFE requirements that were disadvantageous for domestic manufacturers.” [Mitt Romney Press, 2/23/12].

Romney similarly blasted CAFE standards during 2008 campaign. The Boston Globe reported: “In a speech to business leaders and at an international auto show, he was especially critical of new fuel efficiency standards signed into law last month by President Bush. ‘Instead of throwing over a life preserver, Washington has dropped yet another anvil on Michigan,’ Romney told the Detroit Economic Club. ‘And now it's passively sitting back to see if car companies can swim, and the answer is: just barely.’”  [Boston Globe, 1/15/08]