NJ Joins Fight Against Trump Rollbacks to CAFE Standards  

New Jersey Attorney General Grewal today joined a coalition of Attorney Generals in suing the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to invalidate a new rule that cuts the penalty for automakers that violate national fuel economy standards by 60%, bringing the penalty down to almost the amount it was in 1975. The Sierra Club is also part of a lawsuit on NHTSA’s attempt to indefinitely delay a planned increase on automakers whose vehicles failed to meet the CAFE standards.

“Attorney General Grewal is standing up for the people of New Jersey and for the environment. Attorney Grewal has joined the fight with California, New York, and other states to stop Trump from dismantling the CAFE standards. He is standing up for our lungs and wallets! Trump is trying to let automakers off the hook by easing penalties for failing to meet fuel efficiency standards. This is a one-two punch because it will continue to weaken Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFÉ) standards, which automakers won’t even have to follow because EPA eliminated the penalties. That is why the Sierra Club, New Jersey and other states are standing up to the Fossil Fool in the White House and to Big Oil. We will not let President Trump make our air quality any worse,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club.

The Trump administration plans to formally suspend an Obama-era regulation that penalized automakers that didn’t meet fuel-efficiency requirements. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in 2015 issued rules that more than doubled fines — from $5.50 per 0.1 mile to $14 for the same distance — for automakers that consume more fuel than standards allow. Automakers complained that the enhanced penalties would raise compliance costs by $1 billion annually.

“New Jersey has sided with the people over polluters filing suit on the Trump Administration. Trump is trying to give polluters a holiday by eliminating penalties for automakers on fuel economy standards. The Administration’s plans to undermine CAFÉ standards and reduce fuel efficiency affect New Jersey more than any other state. That’s because 45% of our pollution comes from cars, trucks and buses. We also get impacted because we are a corridor state getting pollution from in and out of state from vehicles driving on our turnpikes and other major highways,” said Tittel.

Trump’s ongoing efforts to reduce fuel efficiency standards, including attempts to eliminate the California waiver, will make it more difficult for states like New Jersey and California to set their own strong emissions and fuel efficiency standards. Without tougher standards than the federal level, the emissions coming out of our tailpipes will be dirtier and automakers won’t have any incentive to make electric and hybrid vehicles.

“One of the big impacts of rolling back vehicle efficiency standards will cost us more at the pump. If cars are less efficient, it will force us to buy more gasoline while raising the price. This will be a double whammy on our wallets. Auto companies are spending millions of dollars to develop clean energy and cars and now it will cost them billions of dollars to adopt to Trump’s new standards on car emissions,” said Tittel.

Despite ongoing efforts by the Trump Administration to dismantle fuel efficiency standards, four automakers have struck a deal with California that would circumvent the Trump administration’s pending freeze of fuel efficiency standards. The automakers agreed to produce vehicles that could average 50 mpg by 2026. The Obama-era goal was 50 mpg by 2025. That would undercut efforts by the Trump administration to freeze the standards at 37 mpg.

 “Automakers are doing what’s right for the environment and the country in moving forward with cleaner, more fuel-efficient vehicles. This shows that no matter what Trump does, the market and industry can push us toward higher fuel-efficiency standards. Honda, Volkswagen, Ford and BMW, know the demand is there for new, cleaner technology and greener transportation, and they’re going to meet that demand, despite what Trump does. This is just a slight delay that keeps higher standards in place while helping protect us from Trump’s rollbacks,” said Tittel.

Each year, American passenger vehicles spew upwards of 3 trillion tons of carbon pollution into the air by burning about 121 billion gallons of gasoline. Trump’s actions will increase our dependence on oil, gas, and coal over renewable energy like solar and wind. By continuing to extract and use fossil fuels we undermine effort to combat climate change.

“Reducing penalties for failing to meet fuel-efficiency standards will mean dirtier emissions from our tailpipes. Automakers will have less incentive to make electric and hybrid vehicles. In New Jersey we want to have 330,000 EVs on the road by 2025. That will be harder to accomplish when the fossil fool in the White House keeps giving automakers reasons to ignore fuel efficiency,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “We thank Attorney General Grewal for filing suit to protect our clean air and to stop Trump from continuing to roll back environmental protections. We need to fight and keep on fighting so that our state and our country will be cleaner and greener.”