Burying Bill - Clinton that is...

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170. Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards hold auto industry to fuel average fuel economy stds

Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) requires vehicle manufacturers to comply with the gas mileage, or fuel economy, standards set by the Department of Transportation (DOT). CAFE values are obtained using the city and highway fuel economy test results and a weighted average of vehicle sales.

If you look at the line-up over time between 1970 and the present, you might remember the Pinto and Vega and lots and lots of small trucks. These were happy times in terms of an American outlook on sensible vehicle sizes.
A Suburban stood out like a truck and even full size pickups weren't very large unless they were one-ton and larger capacity variants.

CAFE standards were a good idea, but loopholes were found or created that, in a nutshell, killed the station wagon and truly small truck. Here's a good read:

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2012/10/how-cafe-killed-compact-trucks-and-station-wagons/

And another less complex read here:

THE "SUV LOOPHOLE" is so big that you can drive a truck through it. In fact the loophole is a light truck.

Back in 1975, when Washington passed CAFE (corporate average fuel economy) standards designed to improve gas mileage in automobiles, lawmakers set a lower standard for light trucks. Automakers later used the loophole to market bigger cars, such as minivans and sport utility vehicles, which fall under the same category. The CAFE standard is 27.5 miles per gallon for cars, but 20.7 mpg for light trucks. Thus, what was supposed to be a break for hard-working farmers and industries became a Yuppie Exemption.

Not to her great credit, U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein owns a gas-guzzling SUV, even though she believes in global warming and doesn't want to drill in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. In fact, last year the Los Angeles Times reported that she owned three SUVs. Which makes her your perfect "SUV Democrat."

To her credit, Feinstein has been pushing to close the SUV loophole. "We're energy gluttons," said Feinstein. (With her three SUVs, she should know.) Her legislation would require that the 27.5 mpg standard for cars apply to SUVs and light trucks by 2007.

Feinstein's bill is on the money. It makes no sense for Washington to determine that there is a national interest in limiting gas mileage, but only for small, less expensive cars. Especially when light trucks and SUVs account for some 40 percent of new car sales. As Feinstein explained this week, it is a "no-brainer . . . that SUVs and light trucks are passenger vehicles" and should operate under the same rules.

more at: http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/saunders/article/Close-SUV-Loophole-3316597.php