American Energy Policy, Asleep at the Spigot - from the NY Times.

• The focus of the article is how due to politics (Big 3 Auto Makers and Unions), plus some conservative republicans, mileage standards in the US did not increase for many years.
  
• Mileage requirements in Europe are at 43 MPG, Japan 47 MGP, China 35 MPG, and the US 25 MPG.

The problem is change takes time. The argument was the US auto makers were supplying what the market wanted. They thought Toyota was dumb to invest so much in the Prius. And look where Toyota is now...