(CNSNews.com) - With the House of Representatives scheduled to address fuel economy standards in September, automakers and unions are lining up behind a measure to increase fuel economy targets -- but critics say the bill is flawed.

United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger said a bill sponsored by Reps. Baron Hill (D-Ind.) and Lee Terry (R-Neb.) is a "tough piece of legislation, with no loopholes and no gimmicks." Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) basically refers to the average number of miles per gallon a fleet of cars or trucks is supposed to attain.

If the Hill-Terry bill passes, "it will mandate the largest ever increases in CAFE standards -- and it's also a proposal that is technologically and economically feasible," Gettelfinger said in a statement.

"BMW, Toyota, Chrysler, Ford, General Motors and other automakers have signed on to support this bill because they know they can meet its requirements and still deliver quality, affordable vehicles to their customers," he added.

The UAW will be hosting a rally in Chicago, Ill., on Thursday -- along with Chrysler, Ford and General Motors -- to show their support for the bill.

Rep. Don Manzullo (R-Ill.) will speak at the event. His spokesman, Rich Carter, told Cybercast News Service on Monday that Manzullo supports the bill because it "raises fuel-efficiency standards and protects the environment, but will still allow American automakers to continue to make cars, trucks and SUVs that people want to buy."

Under the terms of the Hill-Terry bill, CAFE standards for passenger cars and light trucks must be increased so the average fuel economy of all vehicles manufactured in 2022 reaches 32 to 35 miles per gallon, but will keep cars and trucks in separate categories. Currently, passenger cars must average 27.5 miles and 22.5 miles per gallon for light trucks.

Gettelfinger added that the legislation is "far more responsible than other proposals. The Senate bill on this subject would be a disaster for our industry."

The Senate energy bill would raise CAFE standards to 35 miles per gallon by 2020 for an entire fleet, including trucks, followed by a 4 percent increase every year thereafter -- a standard the American auto industry has previously said it would be unable to meet.

But the environmental group, the Sierra Club, said the bill does not do enough to curb emissions, calling the bill "feeble."

The group said in a statement that the bill "could drive up America's oil dependence by 1.1 million barrels of oil per day and release an additional 179 metric tons of heat- trapping global warming pollution into the atmosphere in the year 2020 alone."

"The Hill-Terry bill is weaker than the president's plan to improve CAFE by 4 percent per year and the recently passed [in the] Senate energy bill that raises CAFE to 35 mpg by 2020," the Sierra Club said.

"The time is right to push hard for environmental progress, including better fuel economy," countered Gettelfinger. "But if you try to force billions of dollars of retooling costs on the domestic auto industry in too short a time frame, the result will be plant closings, economic dislocation and the loss of jobs, wages and benefits for active and retired workers."

"The last thing Congress should do is pass a bill that will cripple the ability of a key manufacturing industry to provide quality products and good-paying jobs," he said.

Jerry Taylor, director of natural resource studies at the libertarian Cato Institute, noted that "increasing CAFE standards will not decrease the amount of pollution coming from the U.S. auto fleet."

"That's because we regulate emissions per mile traveled, not per gallon of gasoline burned," he told Cybercast News Service. He said that improvements in fuel efficiency reduce the cost of driving, and so, people will drive more.

Rep. Terry, however, said: "America needs a sound, comprehensive energy policy that includes measures to achieve greater energy efficiency. ... With rising oil prices and growing frustration with our dependence on foreign oil, reducing the amount of gasoline we use in our vehicles makes sense."

Taylor noted that increasing CAFE standards will do little to reduce the United States' dependence on foreign oil.

"If the Senate's proposed CAFE standard of 35 mpg by 2020 were to become law, proponents believe that it would reduce oil consumption by, at most, about 1.2 million barrels a day. Given that the Energy Information Administration thinks world crude oil production would be 103.8 million barrels a day by 2020, the reduction would be 1.2 percent of global demand and result in a 1.3 percent decline in price -- nowhere near enough to defund terrorists, denude oil producers of wealth, or secure energy independence," he said.

"The Hill-Terry bill, of course, would do even less in this regard," Taylor added.

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