Obama moves to curb car emissions

Obama: 'The cost of driving these vehicles will go down'

US President Barack Obama has announced tough (严格的) targets (目标) for new fuel-efficient (高能效的) vehicles in order to cut pollution and lower dependence on oil imports.

Describing the move as "historic", Mr Obama said the country's first-ever national standards would reduce vehicle emissions (排放物) by about a third by 2016.

The plan aims to replace (替代) overlapping rules on emissions and efficiency set by federal agencies and states.

US carmakers and environmental groups have expressed support for the move.

Under the proposed standards, manufacturers would be required to begin improving fuel efficiency by 5% a year from 2012.

By 2016, they would have to reach an average of 39 miles per gallon (加仑) for passenger cars (客车), and 30 miles per gallon for light lorries (轻量级卡车).

Announcing the plan at the White House, Mr Obama said the status quo (现状) was "no longer acceptable" and led to dependence on oil exporting countries and climate change.

The new standards are expected to raise the price of new vehicles by about $1,300 (£839) per vehicle by 2016.

But the president said this would be offset (抵消，补偿) by lower fuel cost within three years.

The US is the biggest car market with more than 250 million cars and light lorries on the road.

The proposed nationwide standard for exhaust emissions (废气排放) is expected to cut the amount of carbon dioxide (二氧化碳) produced by new passenger vehicles by 34%.