As if 35mpg by 2020 wasn’t bad enough, auto makers may have to hit 75mpg by 2030. Margo Oge, director of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality, said Monday that that’s the level of fuel-consumption needed to meet a scientific-community proposal to cut emissions by up to 80 percent by 2050 from 2000 levels.

Currently, Congress has mandated an industry-wide average of 35 mpg by 2020, a 40 percent increase over current level requirements.

“There are a lot of strategies you need to consider — both engines and fuels,” Oge said in an interview. Automakers “need to be thinking of those investments for the long term basis,” beyond the energy bill, Oge said.

Worldwide oil use is expected to rise to 120 million barrels a day by 2030, quite an increase from the current average of 85 million. The auto sector accounts for two thirds of U.S.’s oil use.

Source: The Detroit News

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