This paper examines fuel economy and carbon standards for light vehicles (passenger cars and light trucks), discussing the rationale for standards, appropriate degrees of stringency and timing, regulatory structure, and ways to deal with "real world" fuel economy issues that may not be dealt...

Under the European Union’s Voluntary Agreement with car manufacturers, average light vehicle CO2 emissions in 2004 were 12.4% below 1995 levels but appeared unlikely to achieve the 25% reduction needed to reach the 140 g/km target for “per vehicle” CO2 emissions for 2008. The EU is now...