Nearly a year ago, the Obama administration announced a deal that settled a long-running dispute which, over the years, has involved over a dozen states, the federal government, the Supreme Court, and the automobile industry. The deal would see a rapid rise in the CAFE standards, which set the average fuel efficiency of the US' automobile fleet. Today, the EPA announced the finalized version of the deal.

The new CAFE standards will cover the years from 2012 through 2016, and will shift the focus from one of gas mileage to one of carbon emissions: by 2016, the combined average emissions for cars and light trucks cannot exceed 250 grams of carbon dioxide a mile. That is the equivalent of 35.5mpg in today's terms. Automakers will have some flexibility in how they reach this; it appears that many will improve the efficiency of their vehicles' electrical systems.

Over the lifetime of the vehicles, the EPA estimates that the new rules will save nearly a metric Gigaton of CO 2 emissions and 1.8 billion barrels of oil. On the consumer side, the changes are expected to increase the price of vehicles by roughly $1,000. However, the increased fuel savings will balance that in a few years, and consumers are expected to save several thousand dollars over the lifetime of the vehicles.

Although everyone involved with the new rules seems content with the results, rumblings are already starting due to the short time window laid out. 2016 isn't too far away in terms of automotive design, and California, which spearheaded the development of the new rules, has apparently already considered raising standards further when the current deal expires.