Trump Administration to Finalize Weaker Mileage Standards, Dealing a Blow to Obama-Era Climate Policy

March 31, 2020

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by Juliet Eilperin and Brady Dennis (Washington Post) The new rule will improve the U.S. car and light truck fleet’s efficiency by 1.5 percent a year, versus nearly 5 percent under current law. The new rule will improve the U.S. car and light truck fleet’s efficiency by 1.5 percent a year, versus nearly 5 percent under current law.

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Asked about the change, known as the Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles rule, EPA spokeswoman Corry Schiermeyer said in an email that she could not comment on specifics because it is still under review.

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The revised mileage standards will affect drivers across the country, partly by lowering the sticker price of new vehicles but also by causing fuel costs to rise over the long term. It also would release an additional 1.5 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions into the air over five years, according to an analysis by the Environmental Defense Fund — equivalent to the pollution released by 68 coal plants operating during that time.

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The Trump administration has argued that forcing automakers to increase the fuel economy of their fleets to Obama-era standards would make new vehicles more expensive and encourage people to drive older, less safe cars and trucks. By contrast, the new rule — part of a joint effort between the Transportation Department and the EPA — estimates there will be fewer accident-related deaths over the lifetime of vehicles sold between 2021 and 2029 as more people trade older cars for newer, safer ones.

However, the government’s own estimates say more Americans will die as a result of increased air pollution during that same period than if the existing standards remained in place, according to two people briefed on the rule who spoke on the condition of anonymity because it was not yet public.

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The Trump administration’s move follows its attempt to revoke California’s long-standing ability to set its own, more stringent tailpipe standards — and have other states follow its lead. California, joined by nearly two dozen states, is suing the administration for the right to set its own fuel efficiency standards.

The new rule has also caused a rift within the auto industry, as a handful of companies have forged a deal with California to abide by tougher mileage standards, while other automakers have sided with the White House in the ongoing legal tug-of-war.

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The expected rollback this week of federal fuel-efficiency standards brought a wave of criticism from environmental advocates and vows of legal action on Monday, even before it was made official. READ MORE

Trump promised his mileage standards would make cars cheaper and safer. New documents raise doubts about that. (Washington Post)

The Energy 202: Trump administration moves forward with looser air rules as respiratory disease grips U.S. (Washington Post)

Amid the Coronavirus Crisis, Trump Administration Finds Time to Roll Back Fuel Efficiency Standards (Our Daily Planet)

Leaked draft: Trump emissions plan fails agency price test (E&E News)

Trump administration rolls back Obama-era fuel efficiency standards (The Hill)

EV groups brace for phase 2 of Trump fuel standards expected to decrease efficiency mandates (Utility Dive)

California eyes fuel efficiency deal with Volvo as Trump rolls back mileage standards (The Hill)

Excerpt from Washington Post: But the administration’s own analysis suggests that it would cost consumers more than it would save them in the long run, and would do little to make the nation’s roads safer.

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But the new analysis, outlined in a letter Wednesday by Sen. Thomas R. Carper (D-Del.), projects that the benefits of Trump’s proposed rollback would not significantly outweigh the costs. Trump’s approach would lower the sticker price of new cars, according to the documents, but drivers would spend more at the gas pump over time by driving less efficient vehicles.

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In a teleconference on Wednesday, Peter Wilcoxen, a Syracuse University professor who chaired the group of scientific advisers reviewing the rule, told his colleagues that the original proposal’s cost and benefit projections stemmed from flawed assumptions. “The core justification does not rely on a sound scientific basis,” he said.

In August 2018, administration officials projected that their proposal would avert up to 12,000 crash fatalities over the lifetime of vehicles affected by the rule. Using a new set of assumptions, the new rule would prevent a little more than 470 deaths.

Officials now estimate that the rollback would lower the average sticker price by about $1,000, Carper noted, but drivers would pay more than $1,400 in additional gas costs over the lifetime of those vehicles. The rule also would cost at least $34 billion more than it would produce in benefits over those vehicles’ lifetimes, he added.

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The average fuel efficiency of the U.S. car and light truck fleet increased about 2.4 percent annually between 2005 and 2016.

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Thirteen states and the District of Columbia have said they will follow California’s more stringent standards, as have several major automakers. In November, California and 22 other states sued to block the White House’s attempt to strip the state’s authority to set its own fuel-efficiency standards.

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Now that the Transportation Department and the EPA have submitted their proposal to the OMB, White House officials will solicit comment from other agencies before finalizing the rule. READ MORE