Everyone is all over the fad of hybrid and electric cars offering low emissions and high gas mileage.
People are switching from family sedans with 25 miles per gallon to hybrids with 40 mpg to save fuel.
Their actions are supported by the fact that people who drive an average of 12,000 miles per year would save 180 gallons of fuel by exchanging their 25 mpg cars for the 40 mpg hybrids.
Just think of the possible savings if all those low mileage vehicles that are on the road today were improved to higher mileage standards.
Instead of offering tax breaks for people who buy hybrids, why doesn't the government offer incentives to people who trade in their old gas-guzzlers?
Even better, why not just raise the minimum mileage ratings for vehicles in this country?
That possibility might be closer to reality than people realize.
Last fall, Congress passed a bill that would raise fuel efficiency by 40 percent of what it is to 27.5 mpg for cars and 22.4 mpg for light trucks and SUVs by 2020.
It seems pretty fail-safe, except when you look at the body of the bill and discover that if the task of improving fuel efficiency is too arduous, automakers can ask for a waiver of the deadline.
One year after its passing, Detroit automakers Chrysler LLC, Ford Motor Co. and General Motors are already asking for a waiver from the 2015 interim standard, which requires a roughly 15 percent increase in fuel efficiency.
We're seven years away from the deadline, and automakers have already said they can't meet the standard.
Last week, Hyundai Motor Co. said it would meet the entire 2020 mileage requirement by 2015.
With no grumbling from Toyota Motor Co. or Honda Motor Co. Ltd., I assume they don't find the 2020 deadline too difficult to meet either.
So why are American companies requesting the waiver?
As the big three automakers are asking for waivers, they are simultaneously requesting more than $50 billion from Congress to achieve the mileage increases that they claim they can't meet anyway.
The inconsistency lies in the role of lobbyists and special interest groups in legislation, which is also the reason Congress is in the mess that it is in the first place.
The big three automakers are able to use lobbyists to persuade members of Congress to lighten bills for the same reason the CEOs of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Lehman Brothers and the like were not held accountable for their foolish handling of other people's money.
Presidential election votes aren't the only votes that matter. If the public became aware of the real reasons for high fuel costs, an upheaval could occur to force Congress to actually propose true solutions to the problem rather than offshore oil drilling and weak mileage bills.
America needs to wean itself from Persian oil sheiks and Russian oil czars who have mostly anti-American ideals.
It's up to you, America. Let Congress know you're aware of its smoke-and-mirrors magic act and you want hard-line action rather than passive wrist slapping.
If you don't act, you know politicians won't.
Jarrod Stern is a civil engineering senior.
