Schumer Urges EPA To Keep Fuel Economy Standards In Place

As gas prices in New York continue to be at their highest levels in more than three years, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-NY, sounded the alarm and urged the Environmental Protection Agency to give up plans to roll back a rule that is already in place that requires automakers to nearly double the fuel economy of passenger vehicles. The rule, which was implemented during the Obama administration, set as a goal an average of more than 50 mpg for the automakers.

Schumer said if the EPA gets its way and rule is rolled back, consumers will feel the impact on their wallets and at the pump.

“You don’t have to be an economist to understand that scrapping plans to increase the fuel efficiency of our cars will force us all to shell out even more and more money for gas down the road,” he said. “Filling up at the pump is not only a drain on our wallets but also a significant contributor to global warming.

Schumer said that if the EPA is successful in rolling back the standards it will hurt Americans in their pocketbooks and will hurt the plant.

He said that, to make matters worse, cars of the future will rely on electric and hybrid power more and more, so eliminating the rule could upend the competitiveness of the American auto industry just as the rest of the world gets more fuel efficient and smarter about maximizing the resources that keep American cars moving.

“That is why I am telling the EPA to make a U-turn on this very bad decision and drive forward with original plans to ensure our cars — and wallets — get more miles per gallon,” Schumer said.

According to the AAA, the average price of gas in New York is around $3.07 per gallon, an almost 6-cent increase from last year’s average of $2.487.

In the White Plains, gas averaged $2.619 per gallon last year and is now at $3.20 per gallon, an increase of $0.581. In Dutchess and Putnam counties, gas is currently averaging $3.107 per gallon, up $0.560 from last year’s $2.547 average.

According to Schumer’s office, on May 31, the EPA proposed a rollback of the rule requiring automakers to just about double the fuel economy of passenger vehicles to an average of more than 50 mph by 2025. The average fuel economy of new vehicles sold in the United States is currently 25 miles per gallon, according to the University of Michigan Transportation Institute. The 50 mph rule was enacted during the Obama administration.

An analysis by the Rhodium Group found that freezing fuel economy standards at 2020 levels would cost drivers an additional $193 billion to $263 billion cumulatively between now and 2035.

The EPA sent this proposed rollback rule to the White House Office of Management and Budget for initial review. Schumer says that is why he is making the case to try to prevent the proposed scrapping of the rule from going through. He said the proposed rule could be fully public in a matter of weeks and that once the rule is officially published it will be open for public comments before being finalized.

Schumer said that the rollback of the gas mileage rule could try to prevent states such as New York and California from enforcing more stringent standards, which would certainly lead to legal challenges.

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