President Obama has called for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to review applications from 14 states to increase emission and fuel efficiency standards on new automobiles. This stands in contrast to the previous administration, which stated in their rejection of the applications that it would set a confusing mixture of differing regulations from state to state. The auto industry also argued against these regulations, claiming they would reduce efficiency, forcing them to make multiple models of each vehicle.

California, which has proposed the strictest regulations, would reduce emissions from new cars by almost one third before 2016, four years before the national standard. This would require automakers to increase the mile per gallon average on new cars from 27 to 35.

Opponents think these new regulations would be too much for the struggling industry. General Motors, the U.S. auto company that last month received a $13.4 billion federal bailout, eliminated 2,000 jobs from its Ohio and Michigan plants today. While in the long term these new standards might help sales of U.S. vehicles, the short term costs to overhaul their plants might prove too much.

Do you think that these new rules are necessary? Do the long term gains outweigh the short term risk? Would an increase in fuel efficiency make American cars more appealing, or do you see this as too little too late?

–Cody

The photo is taken from this photostream and used with permission of a Creative Commons license.