Obama Pushes for More Fuel Efficiency

The Obama administration is pushing for a fuel-efficiency standard of 56.2 miles per gallon by 2025, but the auto industry is stalling. The target mileage would require a 5 percent-a-year increase in fuel efficiency. Automakers say they can achieve the goal, but only at great expense, and that consumers might not buy the smaller, lighter, and possibly pricier cars. Obama pushed through a fuel-economy standard of 35.5 MPG by 2016 as a condition of the auto bailout. Now, however, car companies are healthier and lobbying harder. The United States has the world's lowest vehicle-emissions and mileage standards.