The new fuel efficiency standards were finalized on Monday by the Biden administration. The EPA will require that fleets travel an average of 55 miles per gallon, up from the 37 miles per gallon standard they are currently held to.
The policy will save American drivers between $210 billion and $420 billion over the course of the century, according to the agency. The savings will come from the higher initial cost of a more efficient vehicle, and the model year of the vehicle. The policy will prevent the release of about 3.1 billion tons of carbon dioxide over the same time frame, according to the EPA.
The EPA Administrator said that they followed the science, listened to stakeholders, and set robust and rigorous standards that will aggressively reduce the pollution that is harming people and our planet.
The standards that were put forward by the Obama administration are mirrored by the new ones. They would have required the manufacturers to make vehicles that could travel 51 miles per gallon if President Trump had not weakened them.
Jeff Alson, a former senior engineer at the EPA, told The New York Times that the new standards are a direct result of the Trump administration's emissions cuts. He said that it wasn't going to get us anywhere near the level of emissions that are needed to protect the planet.
We reached out to Ford, General GM, Honda, Toyota, and Stellantis for comment.
The new standards mark the most significant climate action taken to date by President Biden. The transportation sector is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the US. The announcement comes one day after Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia said he wouldn't support the Democratic party's plan. The $2 trillion plan includes a proposal for up to $12,500 in individual tax subsidies for Americans who buy an EV as their next car.
