Happy 50th anniversary to the CAFE standards, and may they rest in peace.

CAFE standards have nothing to do with bistro health codes or the sugar content in coffee drinks. CAFE stands for Corporate Average Fuel Economy. It was a government regulatory scheme that enforced miles-per-gallon requirements.

The government had never been in the business of regulating fuel economy, but in 1975, after an oil embargo caused gas lines and price increases, Congress passed the Energy Policy and Conservation Act. In the name of reducing U.S. dependence on foreign oil, the new law created the corporate average fuel economy requirement and required manufacturers to reach a fleet average of 27 miles per gallon by the 1985 model year.

The energy crisis of the 1970s is long gone, but the CAFE standards, l

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