California leads lawsuit against Trump fuel efficiency standards rollback

Lawsuit alleges NHTSA contravenes its congressional mandate to set fuel-economy standards at ‘maximum feasible’ .

Two lawsuits were filed on Friday against a Trump administration decision to cut fuel efficiency standards [File: David Zalubowski/AP Photo]

Twenty-six states, including California and New York, have filed a lawsuit against United States President Donald Trump’s administration after the US Department of Transportation lowered fuel economy standards for petrol-powered vehicles.

The lawsuit, filed on Friday, challenges the Department of Transportation’s rollback of fuel economy standards to a fleet average fuel economy of 34.9 miles (56km) per gallon (3.78 litres) by model year 2031. Under the administration of former President Joe Biden, fuel economy standards were set at 50.4 miles (81km) per gallon by model year 2031.

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California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who is leading the lawsuit, argued that the Trump administration improperly changed how federal regulators calculate fuel economy standards.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) bases standards on technological improvements that could make petrol-powered vehicles more efficient. To do that, it first models the current fleet’s performance and then considers what additional actions manufacturers could take to improve their fuel economy in future model years above that.

In past standards, including during the first Trump administration, NHTSA’s baseline fleet included the millions of electric vehicles that already run on US roads.

Bonta said the Transportation Department change ignores the existing slate of EVs, which makes it easier to justify weaker standards for petrol-powered vehicles, and called the approach “flawed” and “dramatically distorted”.

The lawsuit also alleges that NHTSA’s new rule is contrary to law and that NHTSA contravenes its mandate from Congress to set fuel-economy standards at their “maximum feasible” level.

The Transportation Department has said the change could save American taxpayers $138bn over the next five years.

“The president started a war that has created volatility in oil markets, disrupted global energy supplies, and left families and businesses paying the price at the pump. Yet, the Trump administration is attempting to gut fuel economy standards and force Americans to spend billions more on gas while poisoning the air in our communities,” Attorney General Bonta said in a statement.

The rollback was applauded by car makers.

“We welcome the Administration’s efforts to reset the CAFE [Corporate Average Fuel Economy] regulations to more achievable targets that are better aligned with market realities,” said Shane Karr, senior vice president of public affairs at Stellantis North America.

The litigation by the states came in tandem with a second lawsuit filed on Friday by progressive and climate groups, including the Environmental Defense Fund and Public Citizen.

“Trump’s lawless push to roll back key safeguards on fuel economy will pollute our air, and line the pockets of oil and auto CEOs. We are confident of stopping Trump’s CAFE standards rollback,” Robert Weissman, co-president of Public Citizen said in a statement announcing the lawsuit, which was filed in a federal court in Washington DC.

Auto stocks were trending downward throughout the day, with Ford, General Motors and Toyota closing down around 1 percent. Stellantis fell more than 6 percent amid reports of slumping sales.

诉讼指控美国国家公路交通安全管理局 (NHTSA) 违反了国会赋予其的将燃油经济性标准设定为“最大可行范围”的授权。

周五，针对特朗普政府削减燃油效率标准的决定，提起了两起诉讼。[图片：David Zalubowski/AP Photo]

包括加利福尼亚州和纽约州在内的 26 个州对美国总统唐纳德·特朗普的政府提起诉讼，此前美国交通部降低了汽油动力车辆的燃油经济性标准。

该诉讼于周五提起，旨在挑战交通部将燃油经济性标准降低至每加仑（3.78升）34.9英里（56公里）的车队平均燃油经济性（到2031款车型年）。在前总统乔·拜登执政期间，燃油经济性标准设定为到2031款车型年每加仑50.4英里（81公里）。

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领导此次诉讼的加州总检察长罗伯·邦塔认为，特朗普政府不当改变了联邦监管机构计算燃油经济性标准的方式。

美国国家公路交通安全管理局 (NHTSA) 制定燃油效率标准时，会考虑能够提高汽油动力车辆效率的技术改进。为此，它首先对现有车队的性能进行建模，然后考虑制造商可以采取哪些额外措施来提高未来车型年份的燃油经济性。

在过去的标准中，包括特朗普第一届政府时期，美国国家公路交通安全管理局 (NHTSA) 的基准车队包括了已经在美国道路上行驶的数百万辆电动汽车。

邦塔表示，交通部的这项改变忽略了现有的电动汽车产品线，这使得降低汽油动力汽车的标准更容易被接受，他称这种做法“有缺陷”且“严重扭曲”。

诉讼还指控美国国家公路交通安全管理局 (NHTSA) 的新规违反法律，并且 NHTSA 违反了国会赋予其的将燃油经济性标准设定在“最大可行”水平的授权。

美国交通部表示，这项改革可在未来五年内为美国纳税人节省 1380 亿美元。

“总统发动了一场战争，导致石油市场动荡，扰乱了全球能源供应，让家庭和企业在加油站付出了沉重的代价。然而，特朗普政府却试图削弱燃油经济性标准，迫使美国人在汽油上多花数十亿美元，同时污染我们社区的空气，”司法部长邦塔在一份声明中表示。

这一政策回滚受到了汽车制造商的欢迎。

“我们欢迎政府努力将 CAFE（企业平均燃油经济性）法规调整为更易于实现、更符合市场实际情况的目标，”Stellantis 北美公共事务高级副总裁 Shane Karr 表示。

各州提起的诉讼与周五由进步团体和气候团体（包括环境保卫基金和公众公民组织）提起的第二起诉讼同时进行。

“特朗普肆意推行取消燃油经济性关键保障措施的非法行径，将污染我们的空气，并让石油和汽车公司首席执行官们中饱私囊。我们有信心阻止特朗普取消燃油经济性标准，”公共公民组织联合主席罗伯特·韦斯曼在一份声明中宣布提起诉讼时表示。该诉讼已在华盛顿特区的一家联邦法院提起。

汽车股全天呈下跌趋势，福特、通用汽车和丰田的股价收盘均下跌约1%。受销售下滑报道的影响，Stellantis的股价下跌超过6%。