(DCWatchdog.com) – In a major new development, several industry coalitions and businesses have slapped President Joe Biden’s administration with a lawsuit to challenge its mandate that necessitates significant enhancements in fuel economy by vehicle manufacturers over the coming years.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has established a directive mandating a progressive increase in vehicle fuel efficiency, projecting that by the model year 2032, vehicles should achieve an average efficiency of 51.4 miles per gallon.
However, industry representatives contest that the NHTSA’s directive oversteps its statutory boundaries and contravenes federal law by being “arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion and not in accordance with law,” The Daily Caller reports.
This regulatory move by the Biden administration demands a considerable improvement from the current average fuel economy, which the Environmental Protection Agency indicates was approximately 26.9 miles per gallon for model year 2023 vehicles, an incremental improvement from the preceding year.
Plaintiffs against this regulation assert that the stringent fuel efficiency standards “appear ultimately designed to phase out liquid fuel powered vehicles,” as stated in a press release.
“Combined with tailpipe emissions standards from D.C. and California bureaucrats, this is yet another attempt to circumvent Congress and effectively ban new vehicles using liquid fuels that American drivers rely on every single day,” declared Ryan Meyers, Senior Vice President and General Counsel at the American Petroleum Institute, in the release.
In March, the Biden administration implemented a regulation on carbon emissions from vehicle tailpipes, which would effectively necessitate that 67% of light-duty vehicles sold after the model year 2032 are electric or hybrid vehicles.
The enhancement of fuel economy in American vehicles is anticipated to reduce the expenditures on gasoline for consumers, mitigate climate change through decreased carbon emissions, and decrease America’s reliance on foreign oil sources, as per the Department of Energy.
NHTSA has calculated that the implementation of this rule will involve costs amounting to $24.5 billion but will yield benefits valued at $59.7 billion.
Entities challenging this regulation include automobile dealerships, agricultural groups, and the American Petroleum Institute, which represents the interests of the oil and gas sector.
Agricultural proponents particularly oppose the NHTSA’s regulation due to its potential impact on the corn industry, which benefits from ethanol inclusion in fuel, and due to concerns that it may escalate the costs associated with farm vehicles, as highlighted in the press release.
“Once again, we have a federal agency trying to force a one-size-fits-all solution on the American consumer,” expressed Harold Wolle, a Minnesota farmer and President of the National Corn Growers Association.
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