Think gas prices are too low? Don’t fret, Trump just raised them even higher

The Department of Transportation has finalized new fuel economy standards that will raise gas prices by 76 cents a gallon and fuel use by 44%, right as the world struggles with the effects of a war of choice that has spiked energy prices globally, reaching all-time highs in the US.

Update: This article was originally published on September 2, when DoT said the change would be announced “soon.” The rule is now finalized, officially putting US on a path towards irrelevance for the US auto industry and much higher fuel costs for Americans.

Since the 1970s, the US government has had various rules that guide auto manufacturers to make and sell more efficient vehicles.

The main standards, Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE), were first implemented after the Arab oil embargo of the 1970s, and the ensuing energy crisis. The standards require manufacturers to maintain an average level of fuel efficiency across their fleet, or else they have to pay a fine for every noncompliant car they sell.

Prior to these standards, American cars were large and gas guzzling, with very little interest in efficiency. CAFE standards and other government regulations related to efficiency and clean air, both on the state and federal level, have made cars cleaner and more efficient as time has gone on.

The result of cleaner and more efficient vehicles is that it costs less to fuel them, costs less to breathe the dirty air they cause, and makes the environment that you depend on for everything good in your life more livable.

Overall, the policy has saved $5 trillion and stopped the import of 2 trillion gallons of gasoline, according to a study released in 2020. And that doesn’t even account for the environmental and health savings.

So, of course, republicans want to end all of that.

DoT finalizes effort to raise gas prices

On Saturday, Sean Duffy, the corrupt former reality TV contestant posing as the current head of the Department of Transportation, said that this assault on Americans’ pocketbooks was “COMING MONDAY,” quoting a statement by Mr. Trump that falsely portrayed the changes as being a rollback of an EV mandate that never existed.

And today, the rule was officially finalized.

These changes in fuel economy standards aren’t a surprise – on his very first day, Duffy signed a memo promising to increase US fuel costs, reversing standards that were estimated to save Americans $23 billion. But his intent was to target any fuel economy standard whatsoever, wanting to eliminate anything that saves you money, as $23 billion wasn’t enough for him.

Over time, that intent has been refined and officially proposed as a reduction in 2031 target average fuel economy from 50.4mpg to 34.9mpg. The NHTSA says that in fact, these changes would raise fuel costs by $185 billion, and carbon emissions by 5%. These numbers do not take into account the higher health costs from more pollution (but the White House literally says your life is worth nothing, anyway).

Then it was put up for public comment, and the vast majority of the 68,294 comments naturally opposed the plan to hike your fuel and health costs and make the environment less livable.

The changes could raise fuel costs by more than 44%

Doing some simple math, lowering fuel economy from 50.4 mpg to 34.9 mpg would raise the average fuel required to go the same distance by 44% – meaning that average total fuel costs will go up by at least 44% if cars meet the new standards rather than the old ones.

Why “at least” 44%? Well, not only would this regulation mean that drivers have to buy more gasoline on average, but it also means that gasoline prices would go up even further as demand goes up.

You need look no further than an analysis released by the Department of Energy which said that gas prices will go up by 76 cents per gallon if republicans’ energy plans were to take effect. And before anyone claims partisanship – this report was signed off on by Chris Wright, the oil CEO currently squatting in the DoE (who of course sees higher gas prices as a good thing, since it makes more money for his industry).

Mr. Trump falsely claims that this change will “lower prices,” but a report signed off on by his own people acknowledges that not only will prices go up, but that usage will increase – so you’ll be paying more per gallon and buying more gallons.

All of this is happening as oil prices are already at all-time highs, driven there as America slowly continues to lose a war of choice that has spiked energy prices globally (along with several other oil wars EVs have nothing to do with).

And they won’t help American manufacturing

Mr. Trump also took credit for investment into American automakers, despite that he has worked to end the renaissance of American manufacturing led by President Biden, with republicans actively trying to send those EV jobs to China.

The reason CAFE rules exist in the first place is so that manufacturers will offer more fuel efficient vehicles. Instead of ignoring it entirely, they’ll have to produce, market, and sell a certain amount of lower-emission cars.

When those rules are removed, they can instead push gas guzzlers which have more profit margin – more money for them, less money for you.

So this will disincentivize them from producing the types of vehicles that the world wants right now, putting America further behind the rapidly advancing global auto industry.

Or, well, the Chinese auto industry anyway. Chinese auto export numbers are skyrocketing because it’s the only country taking EV manufacturing seriously. If the US continues to go backwards, it can expect to be defeated even more soundly overseas than it already is.

President Biden had put the US on the path where automakers might take EVs more seriously, but many of those investments have been canceled under Mr. Trump, who has even raided an EV plant under construction.

They already stopped CAFE, why do it again?

The elimination of CAFE standards is somewhat of a formality at this point. Republicans in Congress couldn’t muster the votes to eliminate CAFE entirely, so instead used procedural finagling to set CAFE fines to $0, as part of their massive $4 trillion giveaway to US elites. So, effectively, there is no enforcement of CAFE rules at the moment anyway.

So why double up on this effort?

It’s all part of the general all-out assault on American’s pocketbooks, in the form of higher energy prices, that has been engaged in by republicans in the Departments of Transportation, Energy, Interior, EPA, and others.

In many cases, these changes have been reversed by courts due to the nakedly arbitrary and capricious rulemaking involved, and you can expect to see more lawsuits defending your pocketbooks from assault by republicans.

But the reason republicans keep hammering against regulations they’ve already tried to defeat is that by attacking on multiple fronts, it will take longer for a future legitimate government to untangle the damage done. This means that republicans’ constituents, the oil companies who bribed them into position, will presumably get a little longer to profit further off of your misery.

This isn’t the only way that Duffy is trying to make you less safe. He recently eliminated government guidance related to bike lanes and other road safety measures. If local and regional governments follow the new guidelines, pedestrian and cyclist fatality rates could go up from 19-54%, when they are already near an all-time high.

For no particular reason, here’s the link to find out how to register to vote in your state. November’s just over a month away.

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