SAVE MONEY ON TRAVEL DEALS

Chief among the defects outlined in its report is the use of a gasoline price estimate that's about $1.50 per gallon below current and adjusted prices, the Union of Concerned Scientists said in a news release.

The energy law directs the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to set standards requiring progress toward a 35-mile-per-gallon minimum average for new cars and light trucks by 2020, among other things.

In setting fuel standards, the NHTSA balances consumers costs for fuel-saving technology in new vehicles with savings from reduced gasoline consumption, the UCS explained. Fuel economy standards depend on the gasoline price the NHTSA uses in its calculations -- the higher the price, the more cost-effective the technology will be.

But, the organization said, the NHTSA's draft rule assumed a per-gallon cost of about $2.50 between 2011 and 2030 in 2007 dollars. The average price for a gallon of regular is $4.09, or $3.97 in 2007 dollars.

The UCS, based in Cambridge, Mass., urged the federal agency to use the "high oil price" projection ranging $2.96-$3.63 in 2007 dollars instead.

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