Fuel Efficiency Standards

 

Change Of Plans. According to Politico, “EPA will no longer hold public hearings in Washington, D.C., Detroit and Los Angeles on the administration’s proposed freeze of Obama-era fuel economy standards for cars and light trucks, Bloomberg Environment reports. Instead the EPA and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will hold two public hearings on the "SAFE Vehicles Rule" in Pittsburgh on Sept. 21 and Fresno, Calif., on Sept. 24, according to a draft notice.” [Politico, 8/22/18 (=)]

 

CARB Eyes Vehicle Bans, Oil Phaseout To Offset GHGs From Trump Rollback. According to Inside EPA, “Climate policy experts are floating steps California regulators could take to offset greenhouse gas and other emissions increases that result from any Trump administration rollback of Obama-era vehicle rules and equivalent state standards, including a ban on some vehicle use, a phaseout of oil production and new taxes on fuel consumption and vehicle use. ‘There’s the question of what happens if President Trump prevails in taking away California’s right and [reduces] GHG and [fuel economy] standards, and the answer to that . . . is all-of-the-above, and especially some new [measures],’ said Dan Sperling, a California Air Resources Board (CARB) member, during an Aug. 20 workshop the board hosted in Sacramento to discuss ‘opportunities’ for additional GHG reductions from ‘petroleum transportation fuels.’ Such measures should include some ‘new ideas that creative people can come up with that might deal with bans on vehicles in city centers, fleet rules . . . changing registration fees in a way that’s more attuned to the carbon impact of the vehicles,’ he added.” [Inside EPA, 8/21/18 (=)]

 

How Trump's Plan To Roll Back Fuel Emissions Could Affect Your Wallet. According to CNBC, “The Trump administration is proposing a rollback on CAFE (corporate average fuel economy) standards that will produce a $2,340 reduction in overall average vehicle ownership costs for new vehicles and save $500 billion in societal costs over the next 50 years. Auto industry experts warn the rollback could add thousands to consumers’ fuel bills over the lifetime of a car. Others argue that if the rollbacks are approved, car manufacturers will produce new vehicles with doddering technology, specifically for the U.S. market.” [CNBC, 8/21/18 (=)]

 

 

EPA Plans To Roll Back Emissions Standards On Power Plants. According to Green Car Reports, “After wiping out plans to continue boosting fuel economy standards earlier this month, the EPA on Tuesday proposed rolling back emissions standards on electric power plants. The new proposed rule, which the EPA calls the ‘Affordable Clean Energy’ rule, would eliminate Obama-era standards that would have required power plants to reduce carbon emissions either by converting from coal to cleaner sources of energy or by building carbon-capture technologies. The new proposal was first revealed this morning by the AP and detailed by the Washington Post. The Affordable Clean Energy rule would formally overturn President Obama’s signature Clean Power Plan, although that plan was never implemented after the Supreme Court issued a stay in response to petitions from state attorneys general and from power providers. Instead, it would leave regulatory authority for power-plant emissions to the states. The new rule could reduce the emissions advantages of electric cars by allowing more ‘dirty’ power plants to provide the energy that electric-car drivers use to recharge.” [Green Car Reports, 8/21/18 (+)]

 

 

Op-Ed: Fuel-Economy Retreat Would Be A Lost Economic Opportunity. According to an op-ed by John Boesel in Automotive News, “The Trump administration’s recommendation that America slam the brakes on improving pollution and fuel economy standards for cars and trucks will put our nation’s automotive industry at risk. Especially in an age when the rest of the world is speeding toward cleaner cars and the automobile market is increasingly global, weakening fuel economy standards would make the U.S. automotive industry less competitive and cost a lot of Americans their jobs. Automotive suppliers would be hit especially hard. They employ twice as many Americans as the auto manufacturers themselves and have invested heavily in a more fuel-efficient future that would be delivered by the current federal vehicle emissions and efficiency standards. For example, Denso is spending $1 billion to turn a Tennessee facility into a major source of components for electric, hybrid and autonomous cars, allowing the company to switch production of key product lines from Japan to the U.S. BorgWarner is expanding into EV and hybrid parts, making two acquisitions worth about $1.3 billion to develop products for electric powertrains. Bosch is investing $450 million per year to develop EV components and technologies.” [Automotive News, 8/20/18 (+)]