The Senate voted today to require average fuel economy of 35 miles per gallon for new cars, pickup trucks and SUVs by 2020, raising efficiency standards that have not changed significantly for nearly twenty years. While many politicians ands automakers oppose the bill as they say it is impossible to comply with, I believe this is not entirely accurate.
If we as a nation (the US) decided we wanted to drive environmentally friendly cars like in Europe I believe this new goal would be relatively easy to achieve. The reality of course is we are horsepower and space hungry nation when it comes to our vehicles and more is better.
The automakers can achieve the near-impossible (anti-lock brakes, stability control, airbags, etc) but the real miracle is producing cars that are super-energy efficient and fly off the lots. So far the Toyota Prius has achieved both goals but it may be possible for other automakers to come up with a similar design idea.
I just hope American car companies don’t spend too much time trying to influence politicians instead of working to compete effectively in this new green world we live in.
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