April 16, 2009

By David Welch

...President Barack Obama is only partly to blame; he inherited a fuel-saving scheme from President George Bush and the last Congress. When lawmakers were considering revising long-standing regulations two years ago, the auto industry pushed back. As a result, the legislation, while forcing a significant boost in fuel economy, has loopholes big enough to drive a truck through. Obama has finalized rules for 2011 based on Bush's proposed regulations, which run until 2015. Now, Obama is working on what will likely be tougher rules that will run through 2020. "The Obama Administration has an opportunity to close a bunch of loopholes," says Daniel Becker, an environmental lobbyist in Washington. "Hopefully they will."