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CAFE standards upheld by U.S. appeals court

No dice, partner.

Federal Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards for 2012-16 were upheld this week by a U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., quashing efforts by certain industries and a number of states to overturn the mandate, The Detroit News reports.

The standards, which have been backed by the Obama Administration, require fleetwide fuel economy to reach 34.1 miles per gallon by 2016. The mandate, made in part to address evidence of global warming from greenhouse gas emissions, has been backed by most major automakers, including Ford, General Motors and Chrysler.

The Obama Administration is expected later this year to settle on CAFE standards proposed last year for 2025. That mandate requires a 54.5-miles-per-gallon CAFE standard, which equals about 40 miles per gallon in real-world terms.

Fleetwide new-car averages neared all-time highs of about 23 miles per gallon earlier this year, though they have fallen slightly during the past couple of months as gas prices have dropped.

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