Obama announces national standard for auto emission

President Barack Obama announced the first national standard for greenhouse-gas emissions from automobiles and tougher fuel mileage standards that mark the most sweeping new regulation of the industry in decades.

The plan represents an “historic agreement to help America break its dependence on oil, reduce harmful pollution and begin the transition to a clean-energy economy,” the president said today at an event in the White House’s Rose Garden. It also is a “harbinger” of a change in the way business is done in Washington, he said.

He was joined by auto industry chief executives officers including General Motors Corp’s Fritz Henderson, Ford Motor Co’s Alan Mulally and Chrysler LLC’s Bob Nardelli. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger also attended.

Today’s announcement marks another step in Obama’s reshaping of the US auto industry. He has already pushed Chrysler into a bankruptcy reorganisation structured by his auto task force and may do the same to GM by the end of this month. The new standards presented today will change the automakers’ lineup and consumer choices for years to come, shifting them toward smaller, more environmentally friendly vehicles.

Obama said automakers must meet average efficiency standards of 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016, four years sooner than previously planned. The plan would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 900 million metric tons through 2016, according to the administration.