Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/analysts-mull-white-houses-new-vehicle-emissions-standards Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript The Obama administration's new vehicle emissions standards would increase the fuel economy of automobiles to a minimum of 35.5 mpg by 2016. Analysts mull the plan's costs and benefits and assess the challenges ahead for the auto industry. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. GWEN IFILL: Today's announcement appeared to mark a rare meeting of the minds from parties usually at opposite ends of the table, but there are still plenty of loose ends to come.We explore that with Dave McCurdy, president of the Alliance for Automobile Manufacturers, which represents 11 domestic and overseas carmakers, and Daniel Becker, the founder of the Safe Climate Campaign, an advocacy group. He's been working on global warming issues for nearly two decades.So here you sit at the same table in agreement. Let's talk about this agreement.But, first of all, how much, Mr. McCurdy, will it affect someone who goes out to buy a car? I read somewhere today that this agreement will add $600 to the cost of a car; I read somewhere else today that it would add $1,300 at a minimum to the cost of a car. Which is it?DAVE MCCURDY, Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers: Well, government figures are an average of $1,300 per car, again, over the life of this program. So any advanced technology, any new technology is going to cost more.And the key here, though, is that we expect fuel prices to increase over time. And if consumers purchase a fuel-efficient vehicle, they do improve savings for them, improves their cost at the pump, but this does cost automakers up front. GWEN IFILL: And how is it that they suddenly agreed to this? This becomes, I guess, the obvious question, which is, if this has been on the table for years, this discussion about higher fuel efficiency, why now? DAVE MCCURDY: It was a unique opportunity. It was convergence of concerns about climate and energy security, but there was a new administration and I think a president who is talking about providing solutions.We approached the administration and said, "We think there's an opportunity here, and we'd like to see an Obama national approach." They seized that. They created the table. They pulled people together. And it took a lot of work.In your segment with Carol Browner was absolutely correct. She deserves a lot of credit, as does the president and her team, to really pulled people together to find an outcome.