Weakening Fuel Economy Standards for Cars and Trucks Would Waste Gas, Cost Money, Increase Pollution – EDF Testimony

(Washington, D.C. – January 8, 2025) An expert from Environmental Defense Fund joined dozens of other concerned Americans at a hearing to oppose a proposal that would substantially weaken the nation’s fuel economy standards – an action that would waste gas, cost Americans money, and put more pollution in the air we breathe.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) held the hearing yesterday on its proposal to substantially weaken the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. Andy Su testified for EDF that the proposal “would mean wasted gas, more pollution, and higher costs for families.”

Congress first established the CAFE standards in 1975, largely in response to the 1973 OPEC oil embargo. Since then, the standards have improved gas mileage for millions of American cars, trucks and SUVs. Vehicles also became more efficient, more powerful and safer at the same time, and the standards helped boost America’s energy security by reducing our reliance on imported oil. 

NHTSA updated the CAFE standards in 2024. Those updated standards, which the Trump administration is now proposing to weaken, would result in substantial benefits for drivers. “Owners of cars and passenger trucks would save more than $600 on gas over the lifetime of their vehicles,” Su said in his testimony. In addition, NHTSA estimated the standards would avoid the use of almost 70 billion gallons of gasoline by 2050, for a total economic savings of $23 billion. 

The 2024 standards set a goal of about 50.4 miles per gallon fleet average for cars and passenger trucks by model year 2031. NHTSA is proposing to weaken fuel economy standards for light-duty vehicles for model years 2022 to 2026 and model years 2027 to 2031, and to set fuel economy standards that increase from newly proposed weakened model year 2022 standards at a rate of 0.5 percent per year through model year 2026 followed by a meager 0.25 percent per year rate of improvement through model year 2031.The Trump administration estimates that the weakened fuel economy standards will reach 34.5 miles per gallon for light-duty vehicles in model year 2031. 

Su’s testimony pointed out that the 2024 standards would result in improvements in fuel economy using readily available technologies, and that “many of today’s vehicle models already meet the standards for 2031. The proposal would allow manufacturers to make vehicles far less efficient than today’s models.” 

Su also testified that NHTSA is required by law to improve fuel economy by setting standards that are the maximum feasible, and that the Trump administration proposal does not meet that requirement and “would thwart the energy-conservation mandate required by Congress.” And he pointed out that the proposal to weaken the CAFE standards would “join numerous other actions the Administration has taken to substantially increase costs and pollution.” The Trump administration has proposed repealing both the Endangerment Fining and all climate pollution standards for vehicles, which would increase costs for Americans, and has eliminated clean vehicle tax credits, a move that will increase prices and limit consumers’ choices. 

At the same time, electricity bills have spiked and insurance premiums are rising – doubling in some places.  “Making vehicles less efficient and forcing Americans to spend more hard-earned money on gas would only add to these damaging actions and the already-considerable costs Americans are facing,” said Su. 

Read Andy Su’s full testimony here. 

NHTSA is accepting public comments on its proposal until January 20^th.