Well there was an interesting article on DailyTech today about this. And I have not covered this in a while... So here we go.

CAFE is a joke.

The combination of differing standards of mpg, safety, and pollution control has been a mockery ever since the idea of CAFE standards happened.

My semi truck gets 6mpg. Many get 6-7 mpg, though some light semis can get as high as 9mpg (day cab, light engine, some modifications from stock, etc).

In Europe there are trucks getting 10mpg

In America hybrids try to achieve 45mpg

In India they made a car that gets 99mpg (and is very cheap also)

Our system requires all cars to be able to drive highways and Interstates. Meanwhile this ignores the potential of city only cars.

If we get the hell out of the business of regulating this stuff to death I am sure Semi Trucks could get 14mpg, cars could easily pass 100mpg, and SUVs would get more than 40mpg.

Autos and Semi's are so complicated today, and they will keep getting more complicated

In the 60's we had run away pollution... I won't argue against that.

We made advances... catalytic converters, better air filtration, and better fuels.

Some of you may be to young to ever even hear of Leaded Gas.

Some advances really eat up fuel, serve little purpose, and can be hazards of their own.

My semi for instance has a 'pyro' system. This pyro is designed to burn the gases my exhaust makes so they will be 'cleaner'.

The result is fuel is wasted to burn used fuel, my exhaust is routinely 500 degrees farenheight (sp?), and can reach as high as 1200 degrees with routine operation.

Trucks have been known, with this new system, to start fires.

Another recent addition is DEF fluid. This to is to help burn exhaust... at even higher levels as part of a required CO2 reduction and fuel economy increase.

The result was no real fuel economy increase, and an increase in total atoms spit out.

And anyone saying without these standards semi manufactorers would not increase fuel economy is INSANE! Every trucker lives on economy if they own their own truck, and every company does what it can.

Average price of diesel is $4.00 a gallon right now. The difference for me with 5mpg to 6mpg would be $80 a day. Or put in months $2400.  A year would be $28,800. For a major fleet multiply this by 1000.

I definitely understand fuel economy.

But I want an SUV in 2013. I do not want to keep driving a small car. Yes I know the trade off. Let me decide what is better for me however, not the ignorant government.

Btw to show how ignorant it is... http://www.dailytech.com/Study+Claims+CAFE+Loopholes+Will+Make+Vehicles+Larger+Not+Smaller/article23518.htm