The Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing on Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards yesterday. People testifying before the committee included Nicole Nason, Administrator from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Katherine Siggerud, Director of the Physical Infrastructure Team at the GAO.

Kerry pushed to find out why the Administration is still only using voluntary guidelines rather than mandatory guidelines in setting CAFE standards. JK kept demanding to know “What is the plan? Not the target—the plan?” as Nason kept simply reiterating that the goal is a 4% increase in fuel efficiency, but had little to nothing to say about how the Administration intended to achieve that.

Part of JK’s response to the non-answers:

“I have to tell you, it’s been frustrating over 22 years, to watch this process, watch it slide backward some of the same years, stay the same, do worse than Europe and other countries, watch the Germans and the Japanese clean our clock in the marketplace and we just sit around and play games with this. You could get 500 miles per gallon […] We are just nibbling at the margins in the most timid and reluctant and ineffective way. You guys just don’t excite the marketplace. You’re not willing to challenge it. So I think we [meaning Congress] have to.”

You can watch the entire hearing or the exchange between JK and Nason here. Select “View Archive Webcast” ... JK’s comments occur between 2:11:00 and 2:15:00.

After the hearing JK issued this statement:

Sen. John Kerry today called for improved mileage standards for cars, trucks and SUVs sold in the US, arguing that Congress needs to take bold action to reduce dependence on oil. Kerry said that standards must increase and said he supports a fleet average increase of 10 mile per gallon over 10 years.

“It’s past time for us to increase the efficiency of our automobiles,” Kerry said. “Sales of hybrids and advanced technology vehicles are booming. Americans are ready for more efficient vehicles and we need to do more to encourage our automobile industry to keep pace with the public. President Bush says he has similar goals – now he must take the lead and make this happen.”

There’s more on the hearing from the Environmental News Service as well as from The Detroit Free Press which also took an interest. Their report included the following:

In January, Bush called for a 4% annual increase in fuel economy standards through 2017, resulting in an average of about 34 miles per gallon. Nicole Nason, the head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, told senators NHTSA would try to meet the president’s goal but needed to do extensive research to ensure it was feasible.

Last week, the administration said its plans could cost $114 billion, including $85 billion for Detroit automakers, but warned that those estimates were based on 4-year-old data.

Nason told Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., that she couldn’t predict what percentage increase NHTSA would eventually set, to which Kerry replied that without a set target, “this is meaningless, this is just a game.”

“If the president sets it as a goal, you do everything you can to meet it,” Nason replied.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., told Nason “for those who want to do nothing about fuel economy, you’re the perfect spokesman,” and pressed her to say whether Bush would veto a specific fuel economy increase mandated by Congress.

Nason declined to say whether Bush would sign or veto such a bill. She did tell Sen. John Sununu, R-N.H., that if a mandated increase passed, there could be “a way for us to comply with Congress. It would have to be written carefully.”

Sounds like another typical Bush administration appointee ala “Brownie” and “Foxy”. Wonder what Nicole’s nickname is.