Update: Trump’s Clean Cars Rollback Would Cost American Families Up to $500 Each Year

(Washington D.C. – August 30, 2019) An updated analysis by M.J. Bradley & Associates shows that the Trump administration’s impending attack on Clean Car Standards will cost families in each of the fifty states hundreds of dollars each year in extra gas money.

With the anticipated roll back of the standards, American families will spend an average of $200 more each year – and could spend as much as $500 more each year if gas prices rise. Low-income and long-commuting Americans will be particularly hard hit.

“The Trump administration’s attack on our common sense Clean Car Standards means bigger bills at the gas pump for American families,” said EDF Senior Attorney Martha Roberts. “Rolling back our successful Clean Car standards will also cause massive increases in dangerous climate pollution and will leave America behind in the race to manufacture the next generation of cars.”

The updated M.J. Bradley & Associates report was commissioned by EDF. It finds that with the current Clean Car Standards, owners of model year 2025 cars would see net savings in fuel costs of up to almost $5,000 over the cars’ lifetime – and trucks owners would see net fuel cost savings of up to almost $8,000 – compared to model year 2020 vehicles. Those savings would be lost if the Trump administration rolls back the Clean Car Standards.

For the vast majority of American families, the report found the Clean Car Standards will result in money saved at the gas pump as soon as they drive a car off the lot — and for all families, their savings continue as long as they own their vehicle.

In addition to saving families money, the Clean Car Standards give us cleaner air to breathe, help protect us from the growing threat of climate change, and drive the technological innovation that leads to jobs and economic growth. The administration’s proposed rollback, in contrast, would cost 60,000 jobs according to their own analysis (see Table VII-5 at pg. 43, 265). Independent analysis by Blue Green Alliance concluded that job losses would be even higher.

The Clean Car Standards have widespread support, including from many states and automobile workers. An American Lung Association poll found that more than two-thirds of Americans support the Clean Car Standards. Seventeen automakers and a bipartisan coalition of 24 governors have called on the administration to change course from their destructive proposal to roll back the standards.

“States across the country, public health experts, and even major automakers agree that we need to accelerate our progress towards clean cars, not hit the brakes,” said Roberts.