Too much caffeine in CAFE?

CAFE: More jittery buzz than anything?

When Congress was working out the final details of CAFE, I was a perpetual cynic. First, if America were hitting the 2020 standards outlined in CAFE today, America would still be dependent on foreign oil. Second, there are still too many loopholes for flex-fuel credits and for light trucks. Third, the antiquated way of measuring CAFE means 35 mpg is really like 26.5 mpg. Thus, CAFE might make autos a bit more fuel efficient, but not enough to really accomplish anything very significant.

Even worse, if CAFE legislation adds a few thousand dollars to the cost of large SUVs, for example, many in the auto industry believe this will only serve to keep older SUVs on the road far longer - making CAFE even less effective, especially in the short term. And new data by Polk, showing that Americans are keeping their cars longer, seems to lend credit to this thread of thought.

CAFE hasn't achieved much in the past, and it probably won't achieve much in the future. Why can't Americans handle the truth? Why does gas cost $8.00 in Europe, but just $3.50 in America?