DeMint says lowering speed limit isn’t the answer to gas woes

COLUMBIA — While U.S. Sen. John Warner made news last week by declaring Congress should consider reinstating a national speed limit to help ease the nation’s gasoline woes, it appears at least one prominent South Carolina politician won’t be joining the Virginia Republican in support of that initiative.

U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., is interested in an array of measures to address energy supply issues — but they don’t include lowering speed limits by federal mandate.

“The answer to high energy costs is more supply, not more government regulations,” Wesley Denton, DeMint’s communications director, said. “Sen. DeMint is fighting to reduce gas and energy prices by lifting bans on oil exploration, expanding nuclear power and removing federal barriers to new alternative energy sources.”

This means Warner likely will have to look elsewhere for allies if he wants to push a plan through Congress to bring back the nationwide speed limit, which has been absent for the past 13 years.

In 1974, Congress set a speed limit of 55 mph to curb fuel use in the wake of the Arab oil embargo. Federal speed controls eventually were eliminated in 1995. That year, crude oil cost about $18 a barrel, and gasoline averaged $1.15 a gallon.

On Tuesday, oil was trading for about $136 a barrel, with a gallon of regular gasoline averaging nearly $4.11 nationwide.

In a letter to U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, Warner asked the Department of Energy to investigate the possible impacts of lowering speed limits. Warner wants the department to indicate what speed would be best for fuel efficiency and whether lower speed limits would translate to any relief at the pump.

While Warner’s proposal may not be popular among local leadfoots — South Carolina speed limits are as high as 70 mph in some places — Warner argues that at current gasoline prices, speedier travel should take a back seat to simple economic concerns.

In his letter to Bodman, Warner cited DOE data that state gasoline mileage tends to decline considerably at speeds faster than 60 mph. At today’s gasoline prices, every 5 mph over that speed equates roughly to paying an extra 30 cents per gallon, according to those DOE figures.

What’s more, the S.C. Office of Highway Safety said lower speed limits could save not only money, but lives, as well.

Director Phil Riley said there have been 73 fewer highway fatalities in 2008, compared with last year at this time — a 13 percent reduction.

Riley said part of the reason is that South Carolinians are driving slower to save fuel.

“Four dollars a gallon for gas certainly has contributed to it,” he said. “Lowering the speed limit would save lives, and we’re already seeing that.”

A spokesman for Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., said the senator was unavailable for comment and didn’t know if Graham has had an opportunity to review Warner’s letter.

— Robert Kittle of Media General’s Columbia Bureau contributed to this report.