U.S. House votes against clean cars

In 1975, the average new car got 13.1 miles per gallon of gasoline. By 2022, new cars’ fuel efficiency had more than doubled to 33.3 miles per gallon. This progress didn’t just save consumers money, it also slashed air and climate pollution. But on Friday, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to roll back clean car standards that have made the gains possible.

What are clean car standards?

The Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Transportation have worked to improve the efficiency and reduce pollution from cars for decades. The EPA regulates air pollution from cars and trucks under the Clean Air Act and recently finalized a new rule that will slash soot pollution by 95 percent. That won’t just mean clearer skies on our journeys; it will also prevent up to 2,500 premature deaths in 2055 and reduce heart attacks and asthma.

DOT sets Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards which address how far a car can go on a gallon of gasoline. Earlier in 2024, they finalized a new standard requiring cars and small trucks to average 50.4 miles per gallon by model year 2031. The rule is an industry-wide fleet average- so some vehicles can get more or fewer miles per gallon, but overall, our vehicles get much more efficient, which means they’ll pollute far less too. The rules, like the EPA’s, only apply to new vehicles.

Why do clean car standards matter?

1. Clean air

Thousands of American lives are cut short each year by air pollution. But in the 21st century, it doesn’t have to be this way. Cleaner cars are on the market today, including electric vehicles that produce zero tailpipe emissions. The EPA has a mandate to protect human health and clean air, and it cannot do that without addressing one of the largest sources of pollution: vehicles. By setting performance-based vehicle pollution standards that will cut soot pollution from the average car by 95 percent, the EPA is saving lives.

2. Stopping waste

Efficient, electric and hybrid vehicles also prevent the waste of oil and money. Over the past five decades, the EPA and DOT clean car standards have helped save Americans more than 2 trillion gallons of gasoline. That doesn’t just save people pain at the pump- saving gasoline means fewer of our beloved public lands and oceans are scarred by oil drilling, and we’re not needlessly suffering from air and climate pollution caused by burning gas.

3. Climate change

Transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, and while the EPA’s standards deal with multiple pollutants, they will also reduce pollution that’s warming the climate, ensuring a safer, more stable future.

What does the vote mean for clean cars?

As long as the U.S. Senate doesn’t follow the misguided House action, we can anticipate cleaner, more efficient vehicles in the future. Whatever happens, we’ll keep advocating against bills that promise more air pollution, more asthma attacks and more wasted energy.