And the gasoline burned in today's cars and light trucks is quickly becoming much cleaner than even 10 years ago. Under the new Federal emission standards adopted for the 2004 model year, and with the continued help of the oil industry, the next generation of vehicles will reduce emissions by another 70 - 80 percent beyond today's already low levels. Automakers also are working to dramatically improve fuel efficiency. Over the past 20 years, fuel efficiency in all cars has been improved by more than 100 percent. Today's pickup, minivan and SUV get better mileage than a subcompact car from the 1970s.
Advanced technologies offer the promise of even greater fuel efficiency gains.
Worldwide, we are working for consistently clean vehicles and fuels. In the World-wide Fuel Charter, automakers around the world have agreed on fuel quality requirements for optimum emissions performance for a range of regulatory regimes. Over the long term, the automakers' goal is to have globally harmonized standards for vehicles and their fuels that represent best practices globally. The fuel charter sets the stage for this to become reality. What we're here to discuss today at E-Vision 2000 is what will the future look like.