A state activist group is pushing a new national report that advocates increasing the fuel efficiency standards for American cars. Jessica Tritsch of the Iowa Public Interest Research Group says the report by the “Union of Concerned Scientists” calls for raising fuel standards to 40 miles-a-gallon. She says it would take about ten years with current technology to improve the fuel efficiency that much. Tritsch says the change could save Iowa consumers a total of 115 million dollars each year.Tritsch says there would be an initial increase in cost for vehicles, but she says car owners would save three to five thousand dollars in gas each year. Tritsch says this would be a good first step to solving some of the nation’s fuel problems.She says it would allow the U-S to continue looking for other sources of fuel without having to drill for oil in sensitive Wildlife areas. Tritsch says increasing fuel efficiency would help create 40-thousand new jobs in the auto industry by 2010.
