WASHINGTON, D.C. --- The Obama administration will propose on Tuesday, May 19, new federal tailpipe emissions limits and mileage standards, requiring automakers to dramatically raise the fuel efficiency of vehicles by 2016, the Detroit News reported.
The standards would require passenger cars to average 39 miles per gallon and light trucks 30 mpg by 2016. A senior administration official said the plan would boost the average price of a vehicle by $1,300 -- or $600 more than the per-vehicle increase predicted under a Bush administration fuel efficiency proposal, the Detroit News said.
The standards call for automakers to meet a fleet-wide average of 35.5 mpg by 2016. That target is four years ahead of what Congress required in 2007, when it mandated 35 mpg by 2020.
Administration officials estimated that the new requirements would save 1.8 billion barrels of oil and eliminate 900 million metric tons of greenhouse gases -- the equivalent to taking 177 million cars and trucks off the roads.
The administration agreed to impose national emissions rules that are comparable to what California has sought since 2002. Along with 13 other states, California has fought to impose a 30-percent reduction in tailpipe emissions. The plan also gives automakers a single national standard and provides technical changes in California's rules that will put them in harmony with federal fuel economy requirements.
General Motors Corp. President and CEO Fritz Henderson, Ford Motor Co. CEO Alan Mulally, Chrysler Chairman and CEO Robert Nardelli, Daimler AG CEO Dieter Zetsche, Toyota's top U.S. executive Jim Lentz and UAW President Ron Gettelfinger are expected be at the White House today when President Barack Obama announces the deal. Top executives from Honda and Volkswagen AG will also attend, along with Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, the Detroit News reported.
"What's significant about the announcement is it launches a new beginning, an era of cooperation," said Dave McCurdy, president and CEO of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the group that represents Detroit's Big Three automakers, Toyota, Daimler and six other automakers.
