Virginia Postrel, Columnist

Don't Just Roll Back Fuel Standards. End Them.

The CAFE rules are a terrible way to achieve either fuel savings or lower carbon emissions.

March 14, 2017 at 2:11 PM UTC

Virginia Postrel is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. She is a visiting fellow at the Smith Institute for Political Economy and Philosophy at Chapman University and author, most recently, of “The Fabric of Civilization: How Textiles Made the World.”

We need a new gauge.
Photographer: Sashkinw/iStock via Getty Images

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To the outrage of environmentalists, the Trump administration plans to roll back its predecessor’s stringent gas-mileage regulations. Democratic senators are protesting and green groups are predicting lawsuits.

At issue is the Obama administration’s decree, enacted in its final days, that by 2025 automakers boost their fleets’ average fuel efficiency to more than 50 miles per gallon, up from about 35 mpg today. Car companies, who have President Donald Trump’s ear, call the targets unrealistic and warn that they’ll add at least $2,000 to the sticker price of new vehicles. Meeting the standards would likely require a huge expansion of hybrid and electric vehicles sales.