by Peter Lehner
Natural Resources Defense Council
July 27, 2012
It’s been a long, hot, and largely unproductive summer in Washington. Members of Congress head home this month, leaving behind plenty of unfinished business and an ideological divide that remains as wide as the Potomac. The Obama administration, however, is about to pull off a major feat of governance, based on the sort of constructive compromise that seems to have eluded this Congress. In the next few weeks, President Obama will sign off on stronger fuel efficiency standards, created in conjunction with U.S. automakers and environmental groups, that will save consumers big money at the gas pump, create half a million American jobs and dramatically improve our environment.