As we reported at Planet Gore last month, the Obama administration on Tuesday will end the legal battle between California and automakers by declaring a national fuel economy standard as advocated by automakers — but at the Golden State-mandated 35 mpg by 2016.

This onerous standard, which accelerates the already draconian 35-mpg-by-2020 goal adopted just two years ago (estimated cost: $85 billion), comes at time when Detroit automakers are hemorrhaging red ink. A recent Global Insight study found that California’s mandate would increase power-train costs by $1,000 for small cars and $5,000 for larger vehicles.

But with GM and Chrysler wards of the state, any protest is likely to be muted. “The Obama administration fired (GM CEO) Wagoner,” Michigan Rep. Pete Hoekstra told Planet Gore April 6. “Is (new CEO) Henderson going to resist? I don’t think so.”

Currently only three cars — all of them hybrids — get 35 mpg or better : The Toyota Prius, the Honda Civic, and the Ford Fusion. That means that automakers must increase the fuel mileage of the entire auto fleet by 40 percent in one product cycle, a task that auto engineers say is impossible without European-sized gas taxes increasing gas prices to over $6-a-gallon and forcing Americans into small cars.