Former reality TV contestant Sean Duffy. Photo by Gage Skidmore
The Department of Transportation says it’s ready to announce fuel economy standards that will raise gas prices by 76 cents a gallon and fuel use by 45%, right as the world struggles with the effects of a war of choice that has spiked energy prices globally.
Update: This article was originally published on September 2, with the change expected to be announced “soon.” On Saturday, it was announced that the change will be finalized on Monday.
Since the 1970s, the US government has had various rules that guide auto manufacturers to make and sell more efficient vehicles.
The main standards, Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE), were first implemented after the Arab oil embargo of the 1970s, and the ensuing energy crisis. The standards require manufacturers to maintain an average level of fuel efficiency across their fleet, or else they have to pay a fine for every noncompliant car they sell.
Prior to these standards, American cars were large and gas guzzling, with very little interest in efficiency. CAFE standards and other government regulations related to efficiency and clean air, both on the state and federal level, have made cars cleaner and more efficient as time has gone on.
The result of cleaner and more efficient vehicles is that it costs less to fuel them, costs less to breathe the dirty air they cause, and makes the environment that you depend on for everything good in your life more livable.
So, of course, republicans want to end all of that.
DoT ‘about to announce’ effort to raise your fuel costs
This weekend, Sean Duffy, the corrupt former reality TV contestant posing as the current head of the Department of Transportation said that this assault on Americans’ pocketbooks is “COMING MONDAY,” quoting a statement by Mr. Trump that falsely portrayed the changes as being a rollback of an EV mandate that never existed.
These changes in fuel economy standards aren’t a surprise – on his very first day, Duffy signed a memo promising to increase US fuel costs, reversing standards that were estimated to save Americans $23 billion. But his intent was to target any fuel economy standard whatsoever, wanting to eliminate anything that saves you money, as $23 billion wasn’t enough for him.
Over time, that intent has been refined and officially proposed as a reduction in 2031 target average fuel economy from 50.4mpg to 34.5mpg. The NHTSA says that in fact, these changes would raise fuel costs by $185 billion, and carbon emissions by 5%. These numbers do not take into account the higher health costs from more pollution (but the White House literally says your life is worth nothing, anyway).
Then it was put up for public comment, and the vast majority of the 68,294 comments naturally opposed the plan to hike your fuel and health costs and make the environment less livable.
The changes could raise fuel costs by more than 45%
Doing some simple math, lowering fuel economy from 50.4 mpg to 34.5 mpg would raise the average fuel required to go the same distance by 45% – meaning that average total fuel costs will go up by at least 45% if cars meet the new standards rather than the old ones.
Why “at least” 45%? Well, not only would this regulation mean that drivers have to buy more gasoline on average, but it also means that gasoline prices would go up even further as demand goes up.
You need look no further than an analysis released by the Department of Energy which said that gas prices will go up by 76 cents per gallon if republicans’ energy plans were to take effect. And before anyone claims partisanship – this report was signed off on by Chris Wright, the oil CEO currently squatting in the DoE (who of course sees higher gas prices as a good thing, since it makes more money for his industry).
Yes, this is a real graph produced by Trump’s cronies. “Alternative,” in this case, means the Trump plan. Arrows/labels added by Electrek, but the graph is theirs.
Mr. Trump claimed in his post on Saturday that this would “lower prices,” but a report signed off on by his own people acknowledges that not only will prices go up, but that usage will increase – so you’ll be paying more per gallon and buying more gallons.
Mr. Trump also took credit for investment into American automakers, despite that he has worked to end the renaissance of American manufacturing led by President Biden, with republicans actively trying to send those EV jobs to China.
All of this is happening as oil prices are already at all-time highs, driven there as America slowly continues to lose a war of choice that has spiked energy prices globally (along with several other oil wars EVs have nothing to do with).
They already stopped CAFE, why do it again?
The elimination of CAFE standards is somewhat of a formality at this point. Republicans in Congress couldn’t muster the votes to eliminate CAFE entirely, so instead used procedural finagling to set CAFE fines to $0, as part of their massive $4 trillion giveaway to US elites. So, effectively, there is no enforcement of CAFE rules at the moment anyway.
So why double up on this effort?
It’s all part of the general all-out assault on American’s pocketbooks, in the form of higher energy prices, that has been engaged in by republicans in the Departments of Transportation, Energy, Interior, EPA, and others.
In many cases, these changes have been reversed by courts due to the nakedly arbitrary and capricious rulemaking involved, and you can expect to see more lawsuits defending your pocketbooks from assault by republicans.
But the reason republicans keep hammering against regulations they’ve already tried to defeat is that by attacking on multiple fronts, it will take longer for a future legitimate government to untangle the damage done. This means that republicans’ constituents, the oil companies who bribed them into position, will presumably get a little longer to profit further off of your misery.
This isn’t the only way that Duffy is trying to make you less safe. He recently eliminated government guidance related to bike lanes and other road safety measures. If local and regional governments follow the new guidelines, pedestrian and cyclist fatality rates could go up from 19-54%, when they are already near an all-time high.
For no particular reason, here’s the link to find out how to register to vote in your state. November’s just over a month away.
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