DOT contradicts itself, claims cleaner cars will jeopardize safety

• Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy has ordered NHTSA to reconsider fuel economy standards
  
• DOT says higher fuel economy standards will result in higher prices and due to this fact an older, less-safe fleet
• Previous Trump agencies said higher mpg brought cost reductions and safety improvements

The Trump administration is wasting no time in attempting to roll back federal emissions standards, nevertheless it appears to be working against a few of its own previous decisions in the method—even those made by the previous Trump administration.

On Tuesday night, shortly after his confirmation, latest Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy sent a letter to the NHTSA directing that agency to “start an instantaneous review and reconsideration of all existing fuel economy standards” for model years 2022 forward, including Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards put in place by the Biden Administration that set higher efficiency targets beyond the top of the last decade.

Within the letter, Duffy claims that current vehicle-fleet fuel economy standards exceed statutory requirements and that lower targets would thus be sufficient. In direct contradiction to the NHTSA’s previous position on improved fuel efficiency—even under the previous Trump Administration—Duffy argues that lowering fuel economy standards will make cars cheaper and thus safer.

“Because of this of the regulatory costs, distortions, and pressures imposed by the prevailing CAFE standards, more Americans shall be relegated to driving older and older used vehicles, which statistics show are much less secure in a highway crash,” the brand new Transportation Secretary wrote.

But when the previous Trump NHTSA and EPA jointly issued the so-called Safer Inexpensive Fuel-Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles Rule in March 2020, setting steeper fuel economy and emissions standards for model years 2021-2026, the agencies argued that lower fuel consumption and carbon emissions for those somewhat higher standards would still go hand in hand with cost reductions and safety improvements.

Then, it saw a $1,400 cost reduction per latest vehicle, and at the moment, the NHTSA also said newer vehicles meant safer vehicles, nevertheless it still expected the fee savings would allow 2.7 million more latest vehicles to be sold by 2029 while raising efficiency standards. The previous logic is explained within the video below.

The letter also recapitulates typical Trump talking points about eliminating subsidies for electric vehicles, claiming lower EV sales will help consumers by keeping new-car prices down, and help the auto industry as well by allowing continued deal with internal-combustion vehicles.

Although Biden’s influence began with 2022, the steeper fleet efficiency standards imposed didn’t go into effect until the 2024 model yr—and within the relaxed form covered by the ultimate rule through 2031, they go easy on gasoline trucks and SUVs. 

2025 Toyota Corolla Hybrid

“This can raise consumers’ costs on the pump, increase tailpipe pollution and jeopardize U.S. automakers’ future, and nobody voted for any of it,” Dan Becker, director of the Center for Biological Diversity’s Secure Climate Transport Campaign, said in a press release. “The one beneficiaries shall be oil executives and China’s auto industry, which shall be joyful to sell electric vehicles all over the world with little U.S. competition.”

Any cost reductions from less-efficient latest cars can even likely be offset by latest tariffs that will raise prices whether cars are assembled within the U.S. or abroad. Recent reports estimate that a proposed 25% tariff on all imports from Canada and Mexico would raise prices on Mexico-built gasoline pickup trucks by $8,000-$10,000 and add $2,100 to the fee of U.S.-assembled vehicles due to increased parts costs.

Consumer organizations and environmental groups called the declaration a favor to a particular oil-company interests on the expense of working families and the planet. “Making cars less fuel efficient was a key demand of oil executives, and this administration is delivering for them,” said Kathy Harris, director for clean vehicles at Natural Resources Defense Council. “For the remainder of us, it is a harsh blow when we are able to afford it least.”

The DOT letter also mentions “terminating, where appropriate, state emissions waivers that function to limit sales of gasoline-powered automobiles,” likely a reference to California and its plan to finish sales of most vehicles with combustion engines by 2035.

The Supreme Court has already rejected one recent challenge to California’s emissions authority, which was blocked by the Trump Administration in 2019 after which restored by the Biden administration. Last time, this move was supported by several large automakers, including General Motors, Toyota, and Stellantis predecessor Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA). But those automakers are actually much further together with their EV rollouts—GM even claims it achieved EV profitability last quarter—giving them more to lose this time.