(AP)
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The Obama administration is setting tough gas mileage standards for new cars and trucks, spurring the next generation of fuel-sipping gas-electric hybrids, efficient engines, and electric cars. The heads of the Transportation Department and the Environmental Protection Agency will today sign final rules requiring 2016 model-year vehicles to meet fuel efficiency targets of 35.5 miles per gallon combined for cars and trucks, an increase of nearly 10mpg over current standards.
The EPA's half of the rule limits greenhouse gas emissions to 250 grams per mile. It's the first time the agency's made such a rule since gaining the power to do so in a 2007 Supreme Court ruling. President Obama, previewing the plan yesterday, said it marked a reversal "after decades in which we have done little to increase auto efficiency." The fuel-efficiency targets will vary by automaker, with those making more small cars having a higher target than those making more trucks.
