In a bid to cut carbon dioxide emissions in half by 2025, the Obama administration has introduced regulations that will require new fleets of cars and trucks to average 54.5 miles per gallon fuel economy over the next thirteen years.
The gas mileage requirements, which can pass without needing congressional approval, are planned to be put into place gradually in the beginning and become stricter by 2017. These requirements build on previous regulations introduced by the current administration to have cars and trucks average 35 miles to the gallon by 2016.
Fox News reports that President Obama declared the new standards to "represent the single most important step" taken thus far to reduce United States dependency on foreign oil.
These regulations, which are called "Corporate Average Fuel Economy," will urge automakers to lower mileage by using "credits" for selling natural gas and electric vehicles, changing air conditioning fluids to options that are less hazardous to the environment and improving aerodynamics on vehicles, as reported by Fox.
It is estimated that by 2025, many of the bigger model cars currently on the road may cease to exist and car dealers and manufacturers will likely make available more gas-electric hybrids, natural gas and electric cars. Some say that such changes could raise the cost of cars significantly, but that burden would likely be offset by the money saved when purchasing fuel.
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and his campaign publicly opposed the new regulations on Tuesday, saying that any savings in fuel would be cancelled out by the increased cost of these next generation, eco-friendly automobiles.
As car makers introduce new technologies to increase fuel economy, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will be the agency put in charge to monitor manufacturers and enforce regulations.
The final rules put forward were created as a collaborative effort between the Obama administration, automakers and various environmental agencies. As automakers familiarize themselves with the new regulations and begin to consider plans to comply with them by the time the deadline hits, it's possible they may feel overwhelmed. General Motors, however, says it is ready to take on the challenge.
"Consumers want higher fuel efficiency in their cars and trucks, and GM is going to give it to them," General Motor spokesman Greg Martin told Fox News in an interview.