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Regarding the CAFE question: CAFE is a false god. Simply requiring auto makers to sell cars with a certain gas mileage does not require consumers to buy them. For people to choose efficient cars, there needs to be an incentive, like taxes on horsepower, GVW, or emissions. See Warren Brown's columns in the Washington Post for much more on the CAFE issue.
And as for the Prius...Toyota competes in the same market as Ford or GM. What was stopping them from building their very own Prius? Absolutely nothing. They simply chose not to develop that technology as aggressively as Toyota, which also happens to have a squeaky-clean environmental image despite building as many big trucks and SUVs as they can sell. Feel free to argue that the management of Ford or GM or Chrysler has been myopic and foolish, but to suggest that they were unable to build efficient cars because of lack of fuel economy standards is just silly.
In Europe, Ford sells a whole range of small, stylish, efficient gas and diesel cars and trucks. I think they should bring more of those over here, but until the cost of driving is close to what it is over there, Americans will continue to buy big, powerful cars. With gas prices increasing, we're already seeing a shift, but if we stop subsidizing SUVs and big trucks and tax them based on their size and physical presence, sales will plummet. But of course we won't do that, so we'll have to wait for oil to reach $200 and do it for us.
