"Au Contraire" regarding your editorial "No more CAFÉ futility" (OGJ, Aug. 19, p. 19). The mandated CAFÉ 27.5 mpg was the smartest thing Congress did in years. The automobiles being made in America were getting larger than today's SUVs, running with eight cylinders, and averaging about 10 mpg. Our gasoline consumption was growing at the rate of 10%/year. Whereas we were formerly self sufficient for crude oil at about 9 million b/d, our imports of crude were growing at an alarming rate.
The legislation at that time was not concerned with CO2 or earth warming, or any other external factors, only on our becoming increasingly dependent on foreign crude.
Henry Levkoff
Petrotrade Inc.
New York
