Gas cleaner by 2017?

The Obama administration has proposed national regulations like those already in place in California to reduce sulfur in gasoline and tighten automobile emissions beginning in 2017.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said the new standards would provide $7 in health benefits for each dollar spent to implement them, while the costs would trickle down to consumers in higher vehicle and gas prices, according to SFGate.com.

The EPA estimated the gas-price increase would be less than a penny per gallon, and the agency said vehicle prices would increase by $130 by 2025 as a result of the standards. An oil-industry study, however, concluded the price of gas could rise by 6 to 9 cents per gallon. Republicans and oil-industry officials have decried higher manufacturing costs and question potential environmental benefits of the regulations.

The standards would reduce sulfur in gasoline by more than 60 percent and nitrogen oxides by 80 percent.