FINALLY — new car/truck/SUV mileage standards could be on tap

Without Michgan gasbag Carl Levin able to block, the Senate has approved a 35mpg standard. for cars, pickups and SUVs.

The Senate energy bill is still weak. The 35mpg standard doesn’t hit until 2020, with Levin saying he’s still going to work to kill it. Senate Republicans killed a $29 billion tax on oil companies to pay for renewable energy development, a pittance compared to what most Western nations, especially in Europe, finance.

Also bad, bad is a requirement that half of cars be able to flex-fuel on 85 percent ethanol by 2015. Ethanol from corn is energy-neutral at best, possibly energy-negative. It’s also not that much lighter on CO2 emissions than conventional gasoline.

But, it’s something.

Its strongest point is to put pickups and SUVs under the same overall mileage standards, thus killing a HUGE loophole.

And, this is a fair part of why Levin opposes it, I think.

Detroit builds most of its SUVs on truck platforms; Tokyo on car rails. So, Japanese SUVs get better gas mileage, and can be further improved more easily

Tough shit, Carl. The Not-So-Big Three have had 33 years since the first oil embargo.