Soaring SUV Sales Drive Record-Low Carbon Emissions, EPA Says

by John Siciliano (Washington Examiner) ... "Sport utility vehicles reached record-high market share, while also achieving record-low CO2 emissions and record high fuel economy," according to the Environmental Protection Agency's report on model-year 2016 vehicles' fuel economy trends.

Smaller two-wheel drive SUVs made up the largest share of SUVs to roll off the assembly line. The agency released the report to show how automakers are meeting the EPA and Transportation Department's joint fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas rules for cars and light trucks.

"Both car SUVs and truck SUVs achieved record high fuel economy and record low CO2 emissions, with car SUVs reaching 26.2 mpg and truck SUVs reaching 22.2 mpg," EPA said. The smaller SUVs had the largest increase in fuel economy, 1.1 miles per gallon more than the previous model year.

However, a separate report released by the agency said carbon dioxide levels for the 2016 model-year vehicles resulted in a first-ever CO2 deficit under its vehicle emissions program.

The EPA said the increase in carbon emissions was a result of the ratcheting up of fuel economy performance requirements and required improvements in CO2 reductions. That combined with the loss of greenhouse gas credits for making cars and trucks that run on 85-percent ethanol fuel blends, called flexible fuel vehicles. The credits had been available in the first four years of the program as part of EPA's push to drive demand for alternative fuel vehicles.

However, the Obama administration decided to phase out the flex-fuel credit because it was increasingly difficult to prove whether 85-percent ethanol was being used in the vehicles because it is not widely available.

The studies jibe with automaker arguments for why the Trump administration should reopen the Obama EPA's review, which concluded that the industry was ready to move forward from the current 35.5 mile per gallon standard to a much stricter 54.5 mile per gallon goal by 2025. Trump's EPA reopened the Obama administration review and is changing the fuel efficiency and carbon dioxide standards to meet the new market trends. READ MORE