USA Guts Auto Mileage Rules
by Bloomberg | Amy Stillman
click here to read this article at Rigzone.com
*this article was not written by Roseland Oil & Gas
The Trump administration finalized a significant weakening of federal fuel economy standards for automobiles.
The Trump administration finalized a significant weakening of federal fuel economy standards for automobiles, rolling back a key policy that had pushed the industry to improve the efficiency of cars and trucks and sell more battery-electric vehicles.
Automakers are expected to achieve a fleet average of 34.9 miles per gallon for cars and light trucks in model year 2031, the Transportation Department said in a statement on Monday. That’s far less than the roughly 50 miles per gallon required by standards finalized under President Joe Biden.
The move advances President Donald Trump’s push to eliminate Biden-era policies that he has repeatedly attacked as an “EV mandate,” calling those initiatives “ridiculously burdensome” and arguing they drive up new car prices.
Trump has already signed legislation that eliminated penalties on automakers that fail to comply with fuel economy standards and canceled a $7,500 consumer tax credit for electric vehicle purchases. His Environmental Protection Agency also has also repealed a landmark policy that provided the legal foundation to set limits on carbon dioxide emissions from sources including from cars and trucks.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy cast the rollback as a means to make new vehicles more affordable. Even before gasoline prices soared due to the war in Iran, critics of Trump’s push argued that weakening fuel economy requirements will lead to consumers paying more at the pump.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s final rule represents a win for the auto and oil industries that had complained the requirements effectively discouraged the sale of traditional gas-fueled combustion engines in favor of emission-free electric models. Automakers had argued the standards, which were toughened under Biden, were too aggressive and acted as an effective requirement to sell more EVs than the market would support.
John Bozzella, president of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation trade association that represents most carmakers, called the rule an “appropriate course correction.”
“NHTSA made the right call to better align fuel economy standards with the law and current market conditions,” he said in a statement.
Environmentalists harshly criticized the final rule for weakening standards that would have saved consumers billions of dollars at a time when gasoline prices have soared due to the war with Iran.
“Americans need relief from high costs, but instead Trump is giving automakers a free pass on pollution and handing families the bill,” Katherine García, the Sierra Club’s Clean Transportation for All director, said in a statement.
The final rule eliminates a credit-trading system that automakers have used to comply with the requirements, starting in model year 2028.
In 2030, the rule also changes the criteria used to classify vehicles as either passenger cars or light trucks, the latter of which face less stringent mileage requirements. This will effectively reverse the current fleet mix of approximately 70% light trucks and 30% passenger vehicles, according to DOT, subjecting many models such as compact crossovers to more demanding fuel economy requirements for cars.
by Bloomberg | Amy Stillman
click here to read this article at Rigzone.com
*this article was not written by Roseland Oil & Gas