An effort to raise fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks may be gaining momentum in the Senate, where Sens. Slade Gorton (R-Wash.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), and Richard Bryan (D-Nev.) are considering offering a non-binding resolution in support of a new government look at the Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards. For five years in a row, the House has put a freeze on CAFE standards into the Transportation Department spending bill, preventing the feds from even studying the issue, and the Senate hasn’t blocked the measure. The Clinton administration, though opposed to the freeze, has never threatened a veto over it. Earlier this year, 31 senators wrote Pres. Clinton calling for higher standards that could cut air pollution and save Americans millions at the gas pump, but 37 senators have signed a rival letter backing the freeze.
