Senate votes for first rise in car fuel standard in 32 years

*Ed Pilkington in New York
Saturday June 23, 2007
The Guardian *

Democrats in the US Senate have taken a tentative step in the fight
against global warming by imposing the first increase in fuel efficiency
standards on car manufacturers in almost 20 years.
The Democratic majority fought off resistance from Republicans and
fierce lobbying from the big three Detroit-based car companies –
Chrysler, Ford and General Motors – to raise average fuel efficiency
benchmarks for all new cars to 35 miles per gallon (15km/litre) by 2020.
The existing standard of 27.5mpg has remained unchanged since 1989.
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Gas-guzzling four-wheel-drive cars, which have to meet an average of
22.2mpg, are for the first time covered by the same regulations as
passenger cars.
Harry Reid, the Democrats’ leader in the Senate, said the provision,
which is in an energy bill making its way through Congress, “starts
America on a path toward reducing our reliance on oil”.
However, he lamented the fact that another important element of the bill
– a package of $32bn (