National Journal: "Enviros Forced NHTSA Nominee To Withdraw"

Nominee withdrawn for stating the truth:

Enviros Forced NHTSA Nominee To Withdraw
By Louis Jacobson
Updated at 10:27 a.m. on May 13.
There was no shortage of suspects in the case of who killed the nomination yesterday of Chuck Hurley to be the new administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. But environmental advocates - and not the carmakers or the alcohol industry - appear to be the culprit, sources tell National Journal.
Hurley, most recently the head of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, abruptly withdrew his name Tuesday, before the nomination had even been made official. While a wide array of stakeholders had expressed nervousness about aspects of Hurley's record since his appointment was announced in April, Hurley's sudden withdrawal caught insiders on all sides by surprise.
An administration official said he knew nothing beyond confirming that Hurley had withdrawn. But a source who spoke to Hurley said the former nominee cited environmentalists' concerns that he was too soft on raising Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards - the fuel efficiency requirements that NHTSA imposes on carmakers.
"He said he withdrew because he was getting opposition from the environmental community, who did not like his previous statements about the impact of raising the CAFE standards on safety," the source said. . . . . .

The National Academy of Sciences, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the Congressional Budget Office, and National Highway Safety Administration have all found that smaller cars lead to more deaths. So was he removed for telling the truth?