Could auto manufacturers have come close to achieving the fuel efficiency standards target more than a decade ago?  According to a recent article published by the Canadian Press, it was a very real possibility.

According to the published article,

With the CEOs of major carmakers standing behind him, Obama proposed a target of 35.5 miles per U.S. gallon (roughly 6.6 litres per 100 kilometres) average fuel economy by 2016 to help reduce carbon emissions and American dependence on imported oil.

That’s four years sooner than a similar standard set by President George W. Bush’s administration two years ago.

Jeff Alson, is a senior engineer at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s transportation and climate division. He’s in charge of a study the agency does annually on light-duty automotive technology and fuel economy trends. But Alson isn’t the only one who has noticed the irony  in Obama’s “new” goal for fuel efficiency.  In fact, increasing numbers of people are beginning to question Obama’s decisions regarding the auto industry and beyond.

According to Alson, the missed opportunities to improve fuel economy standards years ago were squandered in a push mainly by U.S.-based automakers to build larger vehicles such as SUVs equipped with increasingly powerful engines. A study conducted by the EPA in 1975 showed that the average U.S. vehicle weighed 4,060 pounds (1,840 kilograms). Meanwhile, fuel economy stood at 13.1 miles per gallon (U.S. Standard). Also went on to state:

With all the new technologies that were brought on in that time frame we would have seen higher fuel economy” if vehicle weight and engine horsepower did not climb so dramatically..

So, who do we point the finger at now?

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