The Transportation Department announced a new mandate on Friday requiring automakers to improve fuel efficiency by an additional 16 miles per gallon for their cars to stay in business. Additionally, they must also double the fuel efficiency of their trucks.
This is the administration’s latest effort to ensure all Americans are driving electric vehicles by 2032. This move follows the Biden administration’s finalization of a series of stringent environmental regulations aimed at reducing tailpipe emissions from gas-powered vehicles less than two months ago.
Here is more on the new mandate:
The latest rules impose average miles per gallon limits across manufacturers’ entire product lines, so if they make more electric vehicles, they will find it easier to meet the targets.
Their passenger cars will have to average 65 miles per gallon by 2031, up from 48.7 miles today.
Pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles will have to average 45 miles rather than the 35.1 miles today.
But heavy-duty pickup trucks and large vans will have to nearly double their fuel efficiency from 18.8 to 35 miles per gallon
The Transportation Department estimates that the new regulations will reduce carbon emissions by eight billion tons by approximately 2050.
This new initiative follows the Biden administration’s admission last week that only seven electric charging stations have been built since the $1 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill was signed into law in November 2021. The legislation had aimed to establish 500,000 EV charging ports by 2030.
During a Senate hearing on Wednesday, Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), a prominent advocate for climate action, expressed his frustration over the latest government setback. Merkley, known for his strong stance on environmental issues, was visibly upset as he discussed the situation.
“That’s just pathetic,” Merkley said. “Something is terribly wrong, and it needs to be fixed.”
President Biden has acknowledged Senator Merkley’s frustration, but it is the ordinary Americans who will bear the burden. The only guaranteed way to change this course, supporters argue, is by electing Donald Trump in November.
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