CAFE Standards Rise

The U.S. Senate today reached a compromise on automobile fuel efficiency today. It's a good compromise, scrapping the idiotic (taxes on auto-manufacturers to pay for ethanol) and the rigid (a 4% annual increase in CAFE every year after 2020), but keeping the centerpiece of the legislation: an increase in fleet average miles-per-gallon from 25 to 35 by the year 2020. For every Explorer they sell, they'll also need to sell a Prius or Civic. That's good news.