Trump Admin Is Slashing Fuel Efficiency Standards, Claims It Will ‘Make Cars Affordable Again’

The Department of Transportation (DOT) is revising fuel economy standards to make cars more affordable for Americans.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is resetting the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards and medium and heavy-duty fuel efficiency programs (MDHD). NHTSA’s Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards regulate how far vehicles must travel on a gallon of fuel. The Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) of 1975 directs the Secretary of Transportation and the NHTSA to prescribe average fuel economy standards for vehicles.

“Under President Trump’s leadership, we are making vehicles more affordable and easier to manufacture in the United States. The previous administration illegally used CAFE standards as an electric vehicle mandate – raising new car prices and reducing safety. Resetting CAFE standards as Congress intended will lower vehicle costs and ensure the American people can purchase the cars they want,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy stated.

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“EPCA was passed in the context of the Arab oil embargoes of the 1970s when American consumers and the U.S. economy were threatened by gasoline shortages and high fuel prices,” DOT notes, adding, “the purpose of the CAFE program was to induce automakers into offering America’s consumers more efficient vehicle options to advance the national goal of conserving energy … The statutory prohibition was clear at the time of enactment and has remained clear: it is impermissible for NHTSA to consider the fuel economy of dedicated automobiles in setting maximum feasible fuel economy standards.”

“NHTSA will reset the CAFE and MDHD standards programs consistent with the law,” DOT stated. “This interpretation lays the appropriate groundwork for standard-setting rulemakings that will rest the agency’s regulatory programs as determined necessary to bring them into compliance with Administration policy and applicable substantive statutory requirements as enacted by Congress …”

On the day he was inaugurated, President Donald Trump issued Executive Order 14154, in which he stated, “It is the policy of the United States to ensure that all regulatory requirements related to energy are grounded in clearly applicable law; to eliminate the ‘electric vehicle (EV) mandate’ and promote true consumer choice, which is essential for economic growth and innovation, by removing regulatory barriers to motor vehicle access; by ensuring a level regulatory playing field for consumer choice in vehicles; by terminating, where appropriate, state emissions waivers that function to limit sales of gasoline-powered automobiles …”