US & California agree on new fuel economy standards

From USA Today:

The Obama administration and the state of California announced a deal today to propose their new fuel-economy standards for 2017-25 cars and trucks at the same time — by the first of September. The EPA had planned to do so by the end of September, California had threatened to go its on way and propose its own standards by March 1. Automakers — who supported the current deal for a single national standard of 35.5 mpg by 2016 that was accepted by California — had feared a patchwork of standards after that time set by various states. That would complicate and add to the costs of vehicle planning.

The final standards are expected to be set in 2012.