Carmakers are poised to make deal on fuel rules

After more than 30 years of staunch opposition to federal oversight, the U.S. auto industry appears ready to argue for higher fuel economy standards to block tougher proposals that several automakers worry could cripple their finances.

The latest sign came in a quiet posting of a draft bill from the House Energy and Commerce Committee, chaired by U.S. Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., the industry's top champion on Capitol Hill.

The draft proposes the industry meet mileage standards of at least 36 miles per gallon for cars after 2021 and 30 m.p.g. for trucks after 2024, or roughly 32.5 m.p.g. overall.

Those mileage figures match a proposal overseen by U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich.

Levin's proposal, with slightly different time frames, was offered last week as an alternative to a Senate bill forcing the industry to average 35 m.p.g. by 2020.

Both alternatives would ease the industry's burden toward meeting such standards, and the Dingell committee draft would block states and the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating fuel economy through greenhouse gas emissions. More at Detroit Free Press

[Editor's Note: If America would switch to turbo diesel engines across all their product lines we would meet these mileage requirements in 5 years. Europeans have pretty much standardized on turbo diesels for well over a decade due to high fuel prices. Americans just don't get it.]