Fuel Me Once ...

Enviros sue Bush admin over lax fuel-economy rules for light trucks

In a new lawsuit, the Center for Biological Diversity has charged the Bush administration with violating the 1975 Energy Policy and Conservation Act, which requires the feds to regularly update fuel-economy standards to the "maximum feasible level." With currently available technologies, light trucks could readily achieve 38 miles per gallon by 2015, says CBD, as opposed to the just-updated federal standard of about 24 mpg by 2011. The suit also claims the government failed to account for the air pollution and global-warming impacts of the new standards -- instead simply declaring that since they are an improvement over current standards, they won't damage the environment. Predictably, Transportation Secretary Norm Mineta and the auto industry said the new targets are tough and challenging, before sneaking off to smooch in a dark corner.