Trump administration to unveil lower fuel-economy targets for vehicles
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says the administration will announce lower fuel-economy requirements, reversing Biden-era standards.
The Trump administration is set to announce significantly lower vehicle fuel-economy standards, reversing the previous administration's push for more fuel-efficient cars, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on Monday.
Speaking in Michigan, Duffy said the new rule would be a "common-sense fuel economy standard," arguing that it would allow automakers to build vehicles that Americans actually want to buy, rather than vehicles dictated by Washington.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) had proposed in December to reduce fuel-economy requirements for model years 2022 to 2031, setting a fleetwide average of 34.5 miles per gallon by 2031. That is a sharp drop from the 50.4 miles per gallon target set under former President Joe Biden.
The announcement is expected to be welcomed by automakers, who had argued that the stricter standards were costly and difficult to meet. Environmental groups, however, are likely to criticize the move as a step backward in the fight against climate change.