As the President’s CAFE standards (which require cars to double in gas mileage efficiency and will raise the costs of new cars by an estimated $2000) go into effect, a new study was released with a finding that shocks just about no one: smaller cars are much more dangerous.

A recent study by the Highway Loss Data Institute compared insurance claims among various sized vehicles and found small cars tend to have the highest injury claims. Thus, the Administration’s efforts to reduce gas mileage are expected to result in more accident deaths, just as stricter fuel efficiency standards did when increased by former administrations.

You see, one of the easiest ways to increase how far a car will go on a gallon of gas is to make it lighter and smaller.

Another finding of the study revealed small cars with strong safety crash ratings still have higher injury claims than larger vehicles; in other words, despite the fact small cars may pass safety tests when compared to other smaller cars, they are still at a safety disadvantage.

Which begs the question: is mandating a rise in fuel efficiency standards at the cost of human lives a wise or efficient way to further cleaner energy production?