MELISSA BLOCK, Host: From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Melissa Block.</s>ROBERT SIEGEL, Host: And as NPR's Elizabeth Shogren reports, President Obama may have a hard time repeating his earlier success raising mileage rules.</s>ELIZABETH SHOGREN: Michigan Democratic Senator Carl Levin bristled when he heard the White House had put forward an opening bid of 56 miles per gallon by 2025.</s>MELISSA BLOCK, Host: It was a scenario that was placed on the table which, frankly, shocked me.</s>ELIZABETH SHOGREN: Gina McCarthy heads the air pollution programs for the Environmental Protection Agency.</s>MELISSA BLOCK, Host: We're not wedded to a particular number. We're just looking to see right now what type of technology improvements the car companies think they can make and how we would interpret that in our standards.</s>ELIZABETH SHOGREN: Still, some industry representatives are nervous. Gloria Bergquist is the vice president of the Alliance for Automobile Manufacturers.</s>MELISSA BLOCK, Host: All 12 of my members are equally troubled by the reported numbers that have been coming out, largely because they are essentially an electric vehicle mandate.</s>ELIZABETH SHOGREN: Mary Nichols chairs California's Air Resources Board. She doesn't think 56 miles per gallon is a real number, but she likes it.</s>MELISSA BLOCK, Host: I can certainly say that it's in the right direction. It's definitely in the ballpark of discussion.</s>ELIZABETH SHOGREN: Nichols says her state is obligated by law to slash greenhouse gases from vehicles. She expects by 2030, all new cars sold in California will be advanced vehicles of some kind, and that requires a rapid technology shift.</s>MELISSA BLOCK, Host: We're there at the table as a full partner because we have our own legal authority that we're using here.</s>ELIZABETH SHOGREN: Elizabeth Shogren, NPR News, Washington.
The Obama administration and auto industry executives are starting talks over new fuel economy standards for cars and trucks, which are to be announced in September. Sources say the administration is pushing for the average fuel economy for each carmaker's fleet to rise to 56 mpg by 2025. The companies want something closer to 47 mpg. The heavyweight in these negotiations could turn out to be California, which plans to set its own standard if the federal government doesn't go high enough.