But under this loophole it is rated as getting 33 miles per gallon for purposes of meeting the government's fleet fuel economy standards.

To the Editor: Simply raising the fuel economy standards for cars would not fix a flawed decades-old program (editorial, May 15).

G.M. and Ford are both against increasing the corporate-average fuel- economy standard.

But economy standards vary between carriers.

The Senate saw to that when it rejected stronger fuel economy standards.

Some critics pointed out that this might have had the unintended consequence of pushing manufacturers to make ever-larger vehicles to avoid strict economy standards.

But he has said he may have to kill the project because of the tightening Federal fuel economy standards.

One additional hurdle for G.M. is the possibility of more stringent fuel- economy standards, now being debated in the Senate.

Lawmakers, Administration officials and those trying to increase economy standards concede privately that higher gasoline taxes are vital to reducing consumption.

Therefore, let us examine a few modest proposals, which, I believe, would develop Russia's economy, standard of living and global clout considerably more than additional babies.