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Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy ordered an immediate
review and reconsideration of all Biden-era fuel standards. In a
memo, Duffy directed the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA) to reconsider the 2022 model year through
2031 model years.
Marlo Lewis with the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) says
the all-pain-and-no-gain restrictions on the vehicle fuel
economy are history.
“It’s all going away and now I think we have the prospect of
much milder standards going forward that really will allow the
consumer to dictate the evolution of the auto market in the
United States,” said Lewis.
Lewis said the Biden-era standards didn’t reflect the nation’s
declining need to conserve energy given the country's abundant
liquid fuel resources, and did not adequately account for grid
reliability risks from forced vehicle electrification.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order that scales
back the EPA’s emission rules that currently push automakers to
sell more zero- and low-emission vehicles.
The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency recently announced
another round of funding for an electric vehicle rebate program,
while the landscape continues to change after a new
administration moved into the White House. The General Assembly
appropriated up to $14 million to the Illinois EPA for the EV
rebate program for the current fiscal year.
Lewis said the latest move by the Trump administration is an
important step toward pro-consumer policies.
“The only thing that is going to cause big changes is truly
something that is the next big thing, that everybody wants if
they can afford it,” said Lewis. “That's the free market system
at work and that is what we need to get back to.” |
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