WASHINGTON (AFP) — US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi has promised lawmakers will next week take up a "historic" bid to raise fuel efficiency standards for most cars to 35 miles per gallon by 2020.
Friday's announcement of the most significant such reform in 30 years followed tense talks between lawmakers who had argued for the sweeping environmental reform, and those worried about the impact on the troubled US auto industry.
"We will achieve the major goal of increasing vehicle efficiency standards to 35 miles per gallon in 2020," Pelosi said in a statement after the deal on Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards was concluded.
The pact marks an "historic advancement in our efforts in the Congress to address our energy security and laying strong groundwork for climate legislation next year," the Democratic speaker said.
"We are confident that this final product will win the support of the environmental, labor and manufacturing communities."
The current CAFE standard is around 27.5 miles per gallon for cars and just over 22 miles per gallon for light trucks, a level which has been in force since 1985.
The new deal however is reported to contain some loopholes, which will allow larger trucks to be exempt from the new standards.
A vote is expected soon after Congress returns from its Thanksgiving break next week, and passage of the bill would be a welcome achievement for a Democratic Congress which has failed in its major policy goal of ending the Iraq war.
Pressure for such a deal has been mounting as Americans become increasingly frustrated at rising gasoline prices, and amid warnings that the United States must wean itself of foreign oil from the unstable Middle East.
Pelosi said the deal would prod the automobile industry towards greater efficiency and benefit the environment, while helping auto makers adapt to a new generation of vehicles.
A bill approved by the US Senate in June would have increased fuel efficiency standards by about 35 percent across the board by 2018, making some gasoline-guzzlers obsolete.
US trade unions had earlier warned new fuel efficiency standards could lead to the dismantling of what remains of the US domestic car industry.
"We're being told that we must choose between protecting our environment versus protecting our jobs," said United Auto Workers Union president Ron Gettelfinger said earlier this year.
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