Dianne Feinstein is leading an effort in the U.S. Senate to make cars more fuel efficient. Jodi Breisler reports from Capitol Hill.
California Senator Dianne Feinstein is advocating new fuel economy standards of 35 miles per gallon by 2019. She says the current standard is 25.
American automakers are pushing back, saying that regulation would limit car buyers' choices and be bad for the industry.
Feinstein says that's just a scare tactic they've used with every federal regulation over the past 20 years.
Feinstein : Both for safety and for the mileage changes -- there is existing technology for both. So you don't have to go out and reinvent the wheel to do that.
Feinstein says the new fuel efficiency standards would save American households from $700 to $1,000 per year. She also says it would reduce American dependence on foreign oil.
From Capitol Hill, Jodi Breisler, KPBS News.
