In a far-reaching move, on September 28, President Donald Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rescinded a rule enacted under President Biden to force drivers into electric vehicles.
As part of Biden’s “whole of government approach” to fight climate change, the EPA effectively banned whole classes of cars and trucks by imposing stronger fuel economy standards that would have been impossible to meet for most automobiles powered by internal combustion engines.
As written, Biden’s rule would have required vehicle fleets to get more than 50 miles per gallon (MPG) equivalent by 2031, up from the 30.1 MPG standard today. By the Biden EPA’s own estimate, the rule would effectively have required 26 percent in 2027, and 56 percent of new vehicles sold in 2032 to be EVs.
Yet, even with government subsidies for the purchase of EVs and for EV infrastructure like charging stations, currently, EVs only account for 7.3 percent of new car sales. EPA projected that the rescinded rule would have drastically reduced the availability of gasoline- and diesel-fueled cars and trucks, hybrids, and plug-in hybrids, which together currently make up 92.7 percent of the market, to just 29 percent of sales by 2032.
Aside from the loss of choice, the Biden rules would have increased the costs of remaining vehicles dramatically. EVs already cost thousands more than comparable fossil fuel-powered vehicles. That rule wouldn’t have made EVs cheaper, but it would have added thousands of dollars to the cost of new non-electric vehicles.
Trump’s action changes all that. It did not rescind CAFE standards entirely; he couldn’t do that if he wanted to because they are codified into law. So, EPA under Administrator Lee Zeldin dramatically reduced future increases in fuel economy standards, from 50.4 MPG by 2031 to 34.9 MPG.
This is a good start. It should maintain consumer choice concerning the types of features cars and trucks have and the types of vehicles sold. Under Trump’s rule, if fuel economy is not one’s most important factor when buying a new car or truck, they can still purchase an SUV, car, or truck.
Congress should never have gotten into the business of setting fuel economy standards. It was an inept attempt to reduce dependence on foreign oil, primarily from the Middle East, in response to the 1973 Arab oil embargo. The belief was that if you forced automakers to produce more fuel-efficient cars, people would use less gas, and oil imports would fall.
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H. Sterling Burnett, Ph.D., is the Director of the Arthur B. Robinson Center on Climate and Environmental Policy and the managing editor of Environment & Climate News.
