(CBS/AP) The Senate passed an energy bill late Thursday that includes an increase in automobile fuel economy, new laws against energy price-gouging and a requirement for huge increases in the production of ethanol.

In an eleventh-hour compromise fashioned after two days of closed-door meetings, an agreement was reached to increase average fuel economy by 40 percent to 35 miles per gallon for cars, SUVs and pickup trucks by 2020.

But the fuel economy issue threatened to topple the legislation up to the last minute. Majority Leader Harry Reid held off the vote until late into the evening so several senators could be called back to Capitol Hill to provide the 60-vote margin needed to overcome a threatened filibuster from pro-auto industry senators.

Shortly before midnight, senators voted 62-32 to cut off debate, and followed by passing the bill 65-27. The measure now awaits action by the House, which is expected to take up the issue as early as next week.

Attempts to combine the two bills and send a final version of the legislation to President Bush probably won't be possible until later this year.

Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., a longtime protector of auto industry interests, has said his House Energy and Commerce Committee will not address the matter until fall - as part of global warming legislation.

President Bush, commenting during the day Thursday while visiting a nuclear power plant in Alabama, said Congress must "be realistic" about the energy legislation. The White House opposes having Congress mandate a specific mileage number for auto fuel economy. Mr. Bush believes the Transportation Department should be given increased flexibility to set a standard.

The legislation would be the first increase in vehicle fuel efficiency since the current 22.7 mpg for cars was put in place in 1989 and the first time Congress has imposed a new auto efficiency mandate in 32 years.

CBS News correspondent Kelly Wallace reports environmentalists – who have been fighting for years to get tougher fuel economy standards – are hailing the bill as a win for both the environment and consumers.

"Consumers are paying more than $1,000 a year in additional fuel costs at the pump," says Phyllis Cuttino, director of the Pew Campaign for Fuel Efficiency. "This is really going to help consumers drive farther on less."

Auto industry analysts say it could play out another way. They point out that the last time Congress tightened fuel efficiency standards for cars, motorists gave up their station wagons and switched to larger, heavier trucks on the road.

That could happen again, says Rebecca Lindland, who tracks the auto industry for Global Insight, a team of economic forecasters.

Consumers, says Lindland, "don't want to change their lifestyle, they want to protect their families. Do you sacrifice the safety of your family and get a small, light vehicle in order to save a tree?"

Supporters say the new fuel economy requirement would save 2.5 million barrels of oil a day by 2025, when large numbers of the more fuel-stingy cars would be on the road.

The compromise which cleared the way for approval by the Senate removed a requirement that automakers would have had to meet an additional 4 percent increase per year for 10 years after 2020. The ethanol flex-fuel requirement also would have been three years longer.

Automakers had strongly opposed the 4 percent requirement, saying it was not achievable and would have required them to make vehicles with a fleet-wide average of 52 mpg by 2030.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein is confident that even without the 4 percent requirement, the bill can make a difference for consumers.

"It closes the SUV loophole," says the California Democrat, referring to current requirements that allow much less-stringent fuel efficiency standards for SUVs and pickup trucks than for cars. "This is a victory for the American public."

Republicans complain that the energy bill is tilted too much toward renewables and fuel efficiency and does nothing to boost domestic oil or natural gas production.

Supporters argue that the measure reflects a shift to new energy priorities, away from promoting fossil fuels to supporting other energy sources such wind and biomass to make electricity and ethanol to power cars and trucks.

"This bill starts America on a path toward reducing our reliance on oil," declared Reid.

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