Preview of Coming Attractions: EPA Imposes Death Sentences on Thousands of Americans

KMPH in Fresno reports on yesterday's catastrophic accident involving a "smart car":

An accident in Fresno County sent two people to the hospital Friday morning.

Around 7 a.m. California Highway Patrol officers were called to the area of Highway 168, near Sample Road, for reports of a collision between a "Smart Car" and another vehicle.

CHP officials say the two cars crashed head-on, after one of the vehicles cut into the opposite lane while trying to maneuver a turn.

Only two people were involved in the crash; the female driver of the "Smart Car" was taken by helicopter to a nearby hospital, where she was treated for major injuries, while the other driver is said to have suffered minor injuries.

This news comes as the EPA announced its new guidelines for fuel efficiency, which were opposed in Congress by representatives on both sides of the aisle.

The requirements were raised to an average of 35.5 miles per gallon for 2016 model-year cars and light trucks from 27.3 mpg in 2011...

...The final rule issued today will cost automakers $52 billion to comply and add $926 to the cost of buying a car within five years, according to government estimates.

Legacy media has ignored the real impact of CAFE standards: the human toll represented by thousands of deaths on the roads. As cars get smaller and smaller, to meet central planners' guidelines, the mismatches between large and small vehicles become more pronounced -- and far more deadly.

According to a 2006 report by Ryan Bilas of the National Center for Public Policy Research several studies demonstrate the cost in human lives due to CAFE standards:

• According to a 2001 National Academy of Sciences panel, smaller and lighter vehicle production resulted in an additional 1,300 to 2,600 traffic fatalities in 1993.
• A 1999 USA Today analysis of crash data found that since CAFE went into effect in 1978, 46,000 people died in crashes they otherwise would have survived. That equates to roughly 7,700 deaths for every mile per gallon gained in fuel economy standards.
• A 1989 Harvard-Brookings study estimated CAFE to be responsible for 2,200 to 3,900 excess occupant deaths over ten years. It also estimated between 11,000 and 19,500 occupants would suffer serious injury due to these standards.
• The same study found CAFE has resulted in a 500 pound weight reduction on the average car.
• Lastly, passengers in smaller, lighter cars die at a rate 12 times that of people driving larger, heavier cars.

To meet increased fuel efficiency standards, automobile manufactures reduced vehicle weight.  There is a direct relationship between vehicle weight and passenger deaths and injuries. 

In short, the EPA has imposed death sentences on thousands of Americans.

Furthermore, its arbitrary, Politburo-style rules will likely "paralyze the recovery" and financially damage auto companies at the worst possible time.

And it's all in support of a charade called global warming climate change, as an eight-part series in Germany's Der Spiegel reports this week. Autos contribute 1% of all human-caused CO2. And CO2 is an infinitesimally tiny portion of all greenhouse gases. Global warming is a scam, through and through, designed to let the government control industrial policy.

It's time to defund the EPA completely and stop their radical progressive agenda. The lives we save in doing so may be our own.