Just a few years ago, 405 HP was seen as an enormous amount of power for a passenger car. That was the heady tally for Chevy's Corvette Z06. A scant eight years later, Dodge and Chevy are dancing around the 600 HP mark with their '08 Dodge Viper and '09 Chevy Corvette ZR-1 respectively. If 600 HP isn’t enough for you, there’s always the ultra-exotic Bugatti Veyron which produces an astonishing 1001 HP.

Despite the fact that vehicles like the Veyron, Viper and Corvette ZR-1 make up an insignificant portion of the millions of the vehicles sold each year, a top-ranking official for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) wants manufacturers to put an end to the horsepower wars. Instead of funneling money towards the development of vehicles that have the most chest-thumping horsepower and torque, the official suggests that manufacturers look at the opposite end of the spectrum and produce the most ultra-efficient, lowest-polluting vehicles on the planet.

"We must bring about an end to the horsepower arms race among auto makers and replace it with another different kind of a race, a race to produce the most affordable and desirable, low carbon-vehicle each year," said Margo Oge, the EPA director for the office of transportation and air quality.

"Smog-producing emissions from new vehicles are almost practically zero," Oge continued. "I believe the one set of product plans automotive engineers must [include] with every new model is, ‘How can I make this produce fewer greenhouse-gas emissions?’”

Oge suggest that automakers use all of their technological know-how along with a younger generation of Americans who are environmentally conscious to produce "greener" vehicles.

"[They] want to create an energy technology revolution," remarked Oge. "But it’s up to you to make those investments and push the technologies to create this kind of revolution. Carbon emissions must be reduced, and we must begin now. It can be done, and this country and Detroit can become the epicenter for the next great industrial revolution and engine for economic growth."

With the new CAFE regulations breathing down auto manufacturers' backs, Oge's pleas to the industry likely won't fall on deaf ears.

Ford and GM have announced their intentions to use smaller, turbocharged four and six cylinder engines to replace more fuel-hungry six and eight cylinder engines respectively. Turbocharging is not a new phenomenon in the U.S. auto market, but its use is not as widespread as in Europe where fuel prices soar into the stratosphere.

Diesel motors are making a comeback in the U.S. market as well. GM is bringing a 4.5 liter Duramax diesel to its half-ton pickups and Toyota will follow suit with a diesel of its own for the Tundra and Sequoia. Honda has diesels in store for its sedans, pickups and crossovers while Nissan will bring over a diesel engine for its next-generation Maxima mid-sized sedan.

Toyota already made the word "hybrid" a household name in the U.S. The company's Prius gasoline-electric hybrid went from a relatively small blip on American radar screens to a vehicle which found its way into 181,000 driveways in 2007.

Likewise, companies like GM, Ford, Honda and Nissan have all embraced hybrids to improve the fuel economy of their vehicles while at the same time decreasing emissions.

Looking towards the near future, there are vehicles like the Chevy Volt and Tesla Roadster which run solely on lithium-ion batteries and a powerful electric motor. And as DailyTech has already demonstrated, fuel cell vehicles are already here and could represent a major breakthrough in vehicle propulsion if the hydrogen infrastructure gets a boost in the U.S.

The new CAFE legislation that President Bush signed into law calls for auto manufacturers to increase average fuel economy from the current 25 MPG to 35 MPG by the year 2020. The move to more fuel efficient vehicles won’t happen overnight considering the wide variety of vehicles that many auto manufacturers include in their lineups. However, auto manufacturers have twelve years to figure out what technologies are in their best interest – and their customers’ best interest – in the strive for the 35 MPG goal.