A coalition of industry groups and businesses filed a lawsuit Wednesday challenging a Biden administration rule requiring vehicle manufacturers to drastically improve the fuel economy of their fleets in the coming years.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) rule will require vehicle manufacturers to gradually increase the fuel efficiency of their vehicles, with model year 2032 vehicles expected to have an average efficiency of 51.4 miles per gallon. Industry groups argue that NHTSA’s rule should be vacated because the agency exceeded its legal authority and promulgated a rule that violates federal law by being “arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion and not in accordance with law.”
The Biden administration’s regulation would require auto manufacturers to drastically improve the current fuel economy of their vehicles as the Environmental Protection Agency estimated that the average efficiency for 2023 model year vehicles was just 26.9 miles per gallon, up about one mile per gallon from the previous year.
Interest groups suing the Biden administration over the rule believe its ambitious fuel efficiency standards “appear ultimately designed to phase out liquid fuel powered vehicles,” according to a press release.
“Combined with tailpipe emissions standards from D.C. and California bureaucrats, this is yet another attempt to circumvent Congress and effectively ban new vehicles using liquid fuels that American drivers rely on every single day,” American Petroleum Institute Senior Vice President and General Counsel Ryan Meyers said in the release. The Biden administration in March finalized a rule regulating carbon emissions from tailpipes, which would effectively require 67% of light-duty vehicles sold after model year 2032 to be electric vehicles or hybrids.
Improving the fuel economy of American vehicles will decrease the amount of money people spend on gas, fight climate change by reducing carbon emissions and make the United States less dependent on foreign oil, according to the Department of Energy. NHTSA estimates that its rule would incur $24.5 billion in costs compared to $59.7 billion in benefits.
Organizations suing the Biden administration over its fuel efficiency rule include car dealerships, agricultural interest groups and the American Petroleum Institute, an organization representing the oil and gas industry. Agricultural interests suing the NHTSA oppose its regulation due to the corn industry benefiting from the inclusion of ethanol in liquid fuel and because they believe the regulation could increase the cost of farm vehicles, according to the press release.
“Once again, we have a federal agency trying to force a one-size-fits-all solution on the American consumer,” Minnesota farmer and National Corn Growers Association President Harold Wolle said.
The NHTSA did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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