The Trump administration continues to care less about the environment, as they are expected to announce the final reversal of Obama-era fuel-efficiency standards for cars and light trucks.
The new guidelines from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Transportation will allow for fewer restrictions on air pollution and carbon emissions from automobiles.
The New York Times reported this will equate to nearly a billion tons more carbon dioxide (CO2) over the life of vehicles, than if they would have stuck to the Obama-era automobile fuel efficiency standards.
The Trump administration’s EPA policy will emit hundreds of millions more CO2 than the new restrictions being put in place for Europe and Asia.
Obama planned to mandate a 5% efficiency increase every year, with a goal of fuel efficiency to be around 54 miles per gallon by 2025. Consequently, President Trump’s rollback is a 1.5 percent increase or a decrease of 3.5 percent, which would be around 40 miles per gallon by 2026.
It’s about as clear as the sun in the sky that he is looking after his fossil fuel-loving friends, ensuring that lower fuel efficiency will lead to more money in their pockets. Why care about the environment, when you can make money?!
Former EPA senior official, Chet France, who was in charge of emissions and mileage standards recently spoke to the Associated Press:
Given the catastrophe, they’re in with the coronavirus, they’re pursuing a policy that’s going to hurt public health and kill people. This is [the] first time that an administration has pursued a policy that will net negative benefit for society and reduce fuel savings.
The White House is expected to tout that this move is for the betterment of the country and it will help boost the economy by saving citizens nearly $1,000 for the cost of a new vehicle. However, the New York Times reported that it will actually cost people $1,400 more for the price of fuel.
The current administration could not even make it look like a good idea. The proposed rollback of their own plan concluded it would cost the American economy between $13 and $22 billion.
Luckily, the world’s largest automakers are not standing behind this move by the administration. John Bozzella is President of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which is a lobbying group that represents auto companies. He commented on this expected move:
The auto industry has consistently called for year-over-year increases in fuel efficiency. We need a policy environment that drives improvements in fuel economy, and the infrastructure that supports a transformation to net-zero emissions.
Automakers would have a hard time selling these vehicles outside of the U.S. because of their lower restriction standards.
Reports are the administration has been having a difficult time getting this approved because it’s clearly a bad idea. Recently, they’ve been trying to justify the move by saying fuel-efficient vehicles are less popular with Americans, so this was for their benefit.
Senior vehicles analyst for the Union of Concerned Scientists David Cooke told The Los Angeles Times:
From everything we know, the administration has been absolutely flailing in their justification of this new rule. And they still can’t fudge the numbers enough to make it look like a good idea.
We can hope that the decision ends up going to the Supreme Court as there are around 20 states who are expected to sue the administration for this ridiculousness because the reduction of vehicle emissions would have the greatest impact on reducing the overall carbon footprint.
