Fuel Efficiency for Automobiles (CAFE)
Driving the problem of global warming
The cars we drive everyday account for as much as a quarter of all the global warming pollution produced in the United States. For more than three decades, the United States has relied on the Corporate Average Fuel Economy program (CAFE) to set standards for fuel efficiency for our cars. The program was started in response to the oil shocks of the 1970s, when the OPEC embargo drove gas prices up and created shortages. Gasoline-electric hybrids, advanced transmissions and engines, and stronger, lighter, materials all offer opportunities to improve fuel efficiency without compromising safety. Despite these major advances in technology, the CAFE standard remained unchanged for decades. Due to a major loophole that allows SUVs and pickup trucks to follow a weaker standard, over the last two decades average fuel economy for cars on the road actually decreased.
In 2007, Congress finally passed legislation to raise fuel efficiency standards from 27.5 to 35 miles per gallon by 2020. This will reduce U.S. oil consumption by 1.2 million barrels of oil per day by 2020more than half of what we currently import from the Persian Gulfsaving consumers more than $26 billion and eliminating 206 million metric tons of global warming pollution.
