We probably don't have to tell you that the nation's roads are often a mess, and if the traffic congestion doesn't drive you nuts, fuel prices might. At the same time, the environmental impact from all those miles driven -- and the near-complete lack of reduction in those miles driven -- is sometimes too depressing to think about.

This has been a hot-button issue on all fronts for years, with companies, nonprofits and governments trying to address the issue in any number of ways. In the past week, there have been a few interesting developments -- both good and bad -- in efforts to reduce the impacts of and stresses from our national driving habit. Here are some of the highlights:

Should the Government Focus More on Vehicles Than Renewables?

The federal government needs to pay more attention to the transportation sector, according to a new assessment from the U.S. Department of Energy. The federal government's support of renewable energy has recently been thrust into the spotlight because of the Solyndra debacle, but this analysis finds it is "underinvested" in the transportation sector. Vehicle efficiency and electrification, rather than wind and solar, will do the most to address what the Department of Energy called the biggest immediate threat to U.S. economic and national security: oil dependence.

"Vehicle efficiency has the greatest short- to mid-term impact on oil consumption," the DOE wrote in its first Quadrennial Technology Review report (PDF) released yesterday, which it describes as an assessment of its R&D portfolios. "Electrification will play a growing role in both efficiency and fuel diversification ... Within our transportation activities, we conclude that DOE should gradually increase its effort on vehicle efficiency and electrification relative to alternative fuels."

Aggressive New Fuel Efficiency Standards Suffer from Political Pushback

The nation's transportation sector consumes more than 14 million barrels per day of oil, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. By 2035, that figure will top 16 million barrels each day, the EIA predicts, although that growth rate is slower compared to the time frame from 1975 to 2009.

In an attempt to address growing oil demand -- and meet President Barack Obama's goal of reducing oil consumption by a third by 2035 -- the government introduced higher corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards for light duty vehicles requiring 35 mpg fuel economy by model year 2020.

This week, the Environmental Protection Agency and Transportation Department were supposed to issue new rules for the next phase of fuel standards -- 54.5 mog by 2025 -- but that will be delayed six weeks because of technical issues, the Los Angeles Times reported. Although that move echoes other new environmental law delays of late, including rules that would reduce smog, stakeholders, including the Natural Resources Defense Council, have been assured the rules are coming, not shelved.

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