EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt announced the current greenhouse-gas emission standards for light-duty vehicles for model year 2022-2025 are not appropriate and should be revised.
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) commends Administrator Pruitt for taking this step forward to ensure the future of automobiles will be cars that are safe, affordable, and what consumers want to buy. CEI has followed the CAFE issue for decades, which includes a major court victory in 1992 regarding CAFE’s lethal effects. CEI experts said the following about today’s announcement.
CEI General Counsel Sam Kazman on CAFE’s mandates and safety:
CAFE’s lethal effects on vehicle crashworthiness were documented by analysts and a federal appeals court years ago. Despite this, CAFE has remained in force, getting even more stringent and more deadly over the years. We hope that the Trump Administration will finally take account of those effects and start to liberalize this program.
Director of CEI’s Center for Energy and Environment Myron Ebell on CAFE’s impact on consumer choice:
EPA’s announcement is good news for consumers who care about safety, performance, and size, as well as fuel economy in the vehicles they drive. This is the first step in many years toward reducing government control over what kinds of cars people can choose to buy.
CEI Senior Fellow Marlo Lewis on CAFE’s costs and impact on climate:
Fuel economy mandates restrict consumer choice, add thousands of dollars to the cost of new vehicles, and limit vehicle safety. Contrary to the program’s original rationale, the world is not running out of oil. And even if you worry about global warming, fuel efficiency standards are a stupendously inefficient climate change mitigation strategy. Congress should end the reign of bureaucrats and put consumers back in charge of telling automakers what kinds of cars and trucks to produce.
>> More from CEI on the CAFE issue here.
