I’m pleased to see the Obama administration proposing large increases in fleet fuel efficiency standards. In my mind, we’ve squandered nearly thirty years of potential economic efficiency and national security through egregious foot-dragging by hidebound Detroit executives and a dangerously near-sighted Congress. 35 miles per gallon would be easy to reach, if not already the norm, if we had simply stayed the course we began on in the late 1980’s, on the heels of the first gas crisis.

Now, with nearly insurmountable climate effects added to the drag on our economy and risks to our security associated with dependence on far too much foreign oil, we have to bite the bullet and get on with it. As usual, it’s a case of “Pay me now or pay me later”, and many of those who scream about our “drastic” intervention in the market are the same pundits who opposed sensible, gradual improvements when they could have been far more painless.

At this point, Detroit, the Pentagon, and ardent environmentalists all agree that this move to greatly increase CAFE standards is essential. Let’s just accept the fact that the bill has come due for three decades of self-delusion about the urgency of the energy efficiency crisis, raise the standards, and get on the rest of the challenges facing our country.