Washington may be gridlocked and deadlocked, but traffic is flowing smoothly in some parts of the government. This morning, President Obama announced a cornerstone of a real national energy policy: new fuel economy standards that will save money, promote energy independence and cut carbon emissions.

From the current standard of 35.5 MPG fleet average (the overall average MPG rating of all vehicles a company sells), the new standard for Model Years 2017-2025 powers up to 54.5 . That’s quite an increase, but with more hybrid and electric vehicles, it should be quite manageable for the car companies – and will save the average family $8,200 over the lifetime of their vehicle.

How much fossil fuel will that cut? 12 billion barrels of oil – nearly four years’ worth of US automobile consumption at current levels.

And the 2011-2025 standards will be even steeper, and the savings are projected to increase from 2.2 million barrels of oil a day to more than 4 million – more than we import from all OPEC countries combined. Not too shabby.

It will also reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 163 grams per mile.

Working together

According to the administration,

Developed in partnership with auto manufacturers, the State of California, the United Auto Workers (UAW), national environmental organizations and other stakeholders, these achievable and cost effective standards will bring the nation over halfway to the President’s goal of reducing oil imports by a third by 2025. These standards thus represent a key component of the comprehensive energy policy that this Administration has pursued since day one.

Isn’t that refreshing? Actually working together, to achieve real goals based on actual needs and solve actual problems?

There had been fears that the auto industry would lobby hard to weaken the standards, but since he saved their ass two years ago, Obama may have had a little more leverage. Now if only he could apply the same leverage to the bankers and get some serious financial reform implemented… and then, of course, there’s the debt limit mess.

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