Over the past decade, the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) has examined the issue of fuel economy and mileage standards (Corporate Average Fuel Economy or CAFE standards) of cars and light trucks as well as the price of gasoline from the point of view of economics, technology and public opinion.1 In this report, we find that concern about gasoline prices is higher than in any of the previous 11 surveys we conducted. This is not surprising, given the headlines of the past two weeks. Looking past the headlines, we find important shifts in the economics and in public opinion about gasoline consumption that have changed the environment for auto makers and policy makers. The problem that President George W. Bush, an oil man from Texas, declared to be a national “oil addiction” has become a middle class problem.

Over the past six years, Congress and the executive branch have begun to respond, putting in place the tools to do what Presidents and Congresses have all recognized needs to be done since the first oil price spike nearly 40 years ago – dramatically change the trajectory of United States gasoline consumption.

This report reviews the harsh reality that American gasoline consumers face today, a reality that sets the stage for critically important policy decisions that have already been teed up for later this year.