Can anyone here think of some points that improving the car mileage standard is bad to environment?

Answer 1

I tend to think that increasing fuel efficiency is really important. But everything has its limits and here are three ways that increasing car mileage "too much" could have a negative impact.

First: money spent on the development and implementation of fuel efficiency technologies can't be spent elsewhere. If there is a relatively static amount of money that auto manufactures are willing to spend on improving the environmental impacts of their cars (which is a rather dubious supposition), than over-investment in fuel efficiency will mean less money for other, cheaper green investments. This could result in a net loss of environmental benefits.

Second, if a particular fuel efficiency technology standard was harmful to the environment. For instance, if we developed a gasoline additive that improved fuel efficiency but was also highly toxic, this could hurt the environment.

Third, if such technologies increased the price of cars so much that people became resentful and thus less supportive of environmental protection, an increase could create a negative political backlash that could hurt the environment.

Answer 2

May encourage people to drive more than presently with the resulting greater highway useage, traffic congestion, and less concern about conservation.