Consumers, Automakers, and the Environment: Who Wins and Who Loses With the CAFE Standards Rollback?
When announcing the proposed rulemaking, the
"There are compelling reasons for a new rulemaking on fuel economy standards for 2021-2026," said Transportation Secretary
Although auto industry figures had supported rolling back the standards during meetings with
Even so, automakers will see reduced regulatory compliance costs. Under the Clean Air Act,
The real winners may be American consumers, who will are likely to see more choices and lower prices. According to estimates in a
"Reforming Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards is a huge tax cut for American car buyers, up to a
The administration says that these lower consumer costs will, paradoxically, help the environment. Higher production costs for cars meeting the more stringent CAFE emissions standards pushed the price of new cars to above
"Our proposal aims to strike the right regulatory balance based on the most recent information and create a 50-state solution that will enable more Americans to afford newer, safer vehicles that pollute less," the
The administration is arguing that changing the CAFE standards will make cars safer by discouraging the production of very light vehicles, which may not be as resilient in the face of a crash, and by helping to put new cars on the road. Today, the average American car is about 12 years old and does not have the advantage of many of the advances that have been made in vehicle safety.
Environmental groups, however, see the matter as an attack on their goals and vowed to continue to work to overturn the proposed change during the comment period.
"The clean car standards and the right of states to protect their residents enjoy overwhelming support and are backed by numerous scientific studies.
To others, the CAFE standards change was more a matter of consumer empowerment than environmental catastrophe.
"The fundamental question associated with this mandate is clear: who should decide what types of cars consumers should buy, consumers themselves or bureaucrats in
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