It's Easy Being Green: Hot Cars, Cool Planet

Visitors have streamed through the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, MI over the past two weeks to look at innovative new designs from the industry. And this year’s batch is the greenest yet.

It’s no wonder automakers are beginning to design more fuel-efficient vehicles. There was no incentive to do so under the Bush administration, which for years blocked efforts by California and 16 other states to reduce greenhouse gas pollution from motor vehicles. Yet President Barack Obama changed that mentality last year, and in May he announced an agreement with California, the auto companies, and the United Auto Workers to establish the first-ever greenhouse gas limits for motor vehicles.

The plan would increase fuel economy standards by one-third by 2016, which would save 1.8 billion barrels of oil. It would also cut greenhouse gas pollution by nearly 1 billion metric tons, which is equivalent to removing 177 million cars from the road. The plan should be final in March 2010.

This slideshow features highlights of some of greenest cars at this year’s Detroit Auto Show.