It's About Time.

Finally.

From Reuters:

PresidentPresident Barack Obama took aim at climate-warming greenhouse gases on Tuesday and ordered the struggling auto industry to make more fuel-efficient cars under tough new national standards to cut emissions and increase gas mileage.

Obama said the standards, announced at a White House ceremony attended by auto industry and union leaders, would reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil and give five years of cost certainty to an industry battling to survive.

"The status quo is no longer acceptable," Obama said in an announcement that will pressure carmakers to transform and modernize the industry to produce more efficient vehicles.

"We have done little to increase fuel efficiency of America's cars and trucks for decades," he said, calling the standards the start of a transition to a clean energy economy.

Growing public support for efforts to battle climate change and the weakened state of the U.S. auto industry, which is staying afloat through federal bailouts and restructuring at the government's direction, gave Obama a window of opportunity to impose the rules.

Criticism of Obama's announcement was limited, and focused on the higher production costs, the safety concerns created by producing lighter cars and fears from some observers about increasing government involvement in the industry.

"The government is now designing our cars. It's out of the hands of vehicle manufacturers," said auto industry consultant Larry Rinek.

Well, Larry, the vehicle manufacturers decided that building Hummers, SUVs and other giant monstrosities continued to be a sound production strategy. For over 30 years, U.S. auto executives paid little more than lip service to building competitive, fuel-efficient cars that Americans would choose over their ever-increasing preference for quality imports. U.S. car companies have fought tooth-and-nail against attempts to increase fuel efficiency and now are shadows of their former selves, on life-support and unable to make their own decisions.

Nice job, Larry.

Under the new standards, U.S. passenger vehicles and light trucks must average 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016.

Obama said the new standards would save 1.8 billion barrels of oil over the lifetime of the program -- the equivalent of taking 58 million cars off the road for a year.

Finally.