The Trump administration’s decision today to repeal greenhouse gas emissions standards for cars and trucks will raise costs for American families and businesses by billions of dollars in the coming years.
“Strong vehicle standards save drivers money every time they fill up. Canceling the standards means higher costs at the pump, increased costs to own a car, and more pollution,” said Peter Huether, senior transportation research associate at the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE). “In addition, today’s decision undermines a key U.S. industry that supports hundreds of thousands of American jobs.”
Under the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards eliminated today, the average new vehicle in 2032 was projected to save drivers more than $10,000 over the car’s lifetime compared to a 2022 vehicle due to savings on fuel and maintenance. Today’s rule wipes out $61 billion a year in total consumer savings for passenger vehicles.
ACEEE filed comments with the EPA in September outlining the significant consumer savings, public health benefits, and economic gains resulting from existing EPA standards.
The EPA’s rollback of auto standards is part of a larger rule today rescinding the agency’s 2009 endangerment finding—a determination the Supreme Court required the EPA to make—that greenhouse gas emissions endanger public health and welfare and thus must by law be regulated.
