Obama and Automakers Forge New Plan for Better Fuel Efficiency and Fewer Emissions

The Obama administration and auto manufacturers have reached an agreement to raise fuel efficiency standards for cars and light trucks between 2017 and 2025, ending months of wrangling about how to reduce vehicle greenhouse gas emissions.

President Obama plans to unveil full details of the plan tomorrow. For now, here's what we know from various sources close to the negotiations. The agreement will require:

    * U.S. vehicle fleets to average 54.5 miles per gallon (mpg) or 163 grams per mile (gpm) of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2025--a 50-percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and a 40-percent cut in fuel consumption compared with vehicles now on the road.
    * A 5-percent annual improvement in fuel efficiency and emissions between 2017 and 2025; a 3.5-percent annual improvement for light trucks between 2017 and 2021, jumping to 5 percent each year between 2022 and 2025.

The plan also calls for a midterm review by the spring of 2018--conducted by the EPA, the National Highway Safety Transportation Administration, and the California Air Resources Board--to make sure the standards for 2022-2025 are on track and to order any changes may be necessary to meet the goals of the agreement.

Environmentalists and public health groups wanted a 62-mpg standard, and the White House started out pushing for 56.2 mpg. Automakers pushed back, saying they needed a "carve-out" for their top-selling pickup trucks. The White House agreed, which lowered average fuel efficiency to 54.5 mpg, but won the support of Ford, General Motors, Chrysler, Honda and Hyundai.

The new deal builds on the agreement President Obama forged in 2009 with automakers, environmentalists, labor unions and the state of California, which requires cars and light trucks to average 31.4 mpg and 250 gpm of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2016. For the sake of comparison, and to track progress, in 2010 U.S. cars and light trucks averaged 28.3 mpg and 314 gpm.

That landmark agreement in 2009--the first national program ever to regulate vehicle greenhouse gas emissions--established the right of California and other states to set their own vehicle emissions, even if they exceed federal standards, and sparked lawsuits by U.S. automakers who don't want to be put in the position of trying to meet multiple standards.

Automakers and government officials seem pleased and generally optimistic about the agreement.

According to a White House statement released yesterday: "This program, which builds on the historic agreement achieved by this administration for Model Years 2012-2016, will result in significant cost savings for consumers at the pump, dramatically reduce oil consumption, cut pollution and create jobs."

Leading environmental groups are more guarded.

"Until the White House provides us the full details, we are not in position to assess whether this is a strong proposal or whether there are any significant flaws," said Roland Hwang, transportation program director for the Natural Resources Defense Council, in an interview with The Washington Post. "From what we've read, there are certainly aspects that are encouraging but there are potential loopholes which could be troubling. Now it appears there is an agreement, it's time for the auto industry to work in good faith to not exploit the loopholes that threaten to undermine the consumer and pollution benefits."

As all Washington watchers know, the devil is in the details, and we won't have full details until tomorrow at the earliest. Stay tuned.


