Fuel-Economy Standards Axed by Trump Administration

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced today that it is gutting fuel-economy standards for cars, SUVs, and pickup trucks, an inconceivable decision given the purpose of the federal fuel economy program – to reduce gasoline consumption – and the skyrocketing prices at the pump Americans are already struggling to pay.

The final rule weakens existing Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, lowering the expected fleetwide average to just 34.9 miles per gallon by 2031 – below what automakers on average have already achieved. In its proposal, NHTSA predicted that its changes would force the average driver to pay $1,400 more in fuel costs over the lifetime of their vehicle.

The following is a comment from Atid Kimelman, an attorney at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council):

“With Americans struggling to afford gasoline that is more than $4 a gallon, the Trump administration is going to force them to pay more at the pump. Oil companies will get a windfall from gutting the fuel economy standards, but the rest of us are going to be handing over more of our hard-earned paychecks to fill up the tank.

“This is a harsh blow to American families struggling to afford rising energy costs. It will raise drivers’ costs while also worsening air pollution across the country following a scorching summer marred by devastating storms and wildfires.

“Congress established fuel economy standards five decades ago after Middle East unrest led to a spike in oil prices. But with the war with Iran driving up oil prices, the Trump administration is doing all it can to keep us dependent on gas guzzlers. In fact, most automakers would not need to make any fuel-economy improvements over the next five years to meet these new standards.

“This rollback is not only bad policy; it also violates the law. Stay tuned.”

Background

Over the past five decades, fuel economy standards have been one of the most significant actions the United States has taken to reduce its reliance on oil and save drivers money at the pump. A bipartisan Congress first established CAFE standards in 1975 in the wake of the OPEC Oil Embargo a few years earlier. As a result of federal clean car and fuel economy standards, vehicles in the United States today use less gas and create less pollution than they used to. Since enacted, fuel economy improvements have saved more than two trillion gallons of gasoline, enough to run every car and light truck in the U.S. for more than 15 years. They have also saved drivers a combined $5 trillion in fuel costs and avoided 14 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions, a Princeton University study concluded.

NHTSA’s 2024 fuel economy standards were forecast to raise the average vehicle’s fuel efficiency to 50.4 miles per gallon, saving Americans $23 billion in fuel costs. Those standards are being repealed in this action by the Trump administration today, and a new average goal of just 34.9 miles-per-gallon set.

Instead of following its statutory mandate to set vehicle fuel-economy standards at “maximum feasible levels” to reduce fuel consumption, with these new standards NHTSA set goals below what vehicle fleets on the road today already achieve.