THE MORNING RANT: New Transportation Secretary Issues Order Directing NHTSA to Rescind and Replace Existing Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) Standards

The all-fronts assault by the Trump administration against the entrenched bureaucracy continues, as the nation’s duly elected Chief Executive seeks to wrest control of our government from the unelected cabal that has been running this country through regulatory diktat.

Buried amidst all the headlines and Executive Orders this past week was a major announcement that is decades overdue. The first act of the newly sworn-in Transportation Secretary, Sean Duffy, was an order for his department to rescind or replace all existing automotive Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards.

The CAFE regulations have been a destructive, market-distorting imposition on the auto industry, with various unintended consequences, from pushing consumers out of wagons and into SUVs, to killing off small pickup trucks. The intent of CAFE, of course, was initially to deny consumers the right to drive anything but tiny econo-boxes, and it has morphed into an effort to push consumers into EVs.

“US DoT issues order to “rescind or replace” CAFE standards” [Automotive News – 01/30/2025]

As expected, US regulators are moving to roll back fuel economy standards on new vehicles following Trump’s assumption of office.

[Duffy’s] first official act was to sign a memorandum directing staff to start the process of resetting Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. It specifically directs the Office of the General Counsel, the Office of the Undersecretary for Policy, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to immediately initiate rulemaking “to rescind or replace all existing CAFE standards.”

The rules currently in place require a 2% improvement in fuel economy every year for all passenger cars and light trucks between model years (MY) 2027 and 2031. By MY2031, the final standard would require 50.4mpg.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s Memo dated 01/28/2025 and titled “Fixing the CAFE Program”
is at this link. Here are some highlights:

I hereby direct NHTSA to commence an immediate review and reconsideration of all existing fuel economy standards applicable to all models of motor vehicles…”

And I direct NHTSA to propose the rescission or replacement of any fuel economy standards as determined necessary to bring the CAFE program into compliance with Administration policy and the requirement of the law.

These fuel economy standards are set at such aggressive levels that automakers cannot, as a practical matter, satisfy the standards without rapidly shifting production away from internal-combustion engine (ICE) vehicles to alternative electric technologies.

Concurrently, there is great news over at the Environmental Protection Agency, where Lee Zeldin has just been confirmed as its new Administrator, a Cabinet level position. The EPA has long since transitioned from being an entity focused on clean air and water into a powerful and punitive force seeking to impose the radical anti-carbon agenda.

Things are about to change at the EPA. This will also allow auto manufacturers to focus on actual customer demand rather than making products demanded by climate communists at government regulatory agencies.

All the right people are upset about Zeldin taking control of the EPA. PBS quotes Senator John Barrasso (R – Wyoming) as stating that the EPA has been on a “regulatory rampage” and that Zeldin’s EPA will likely repeal Joe Biden’s rules on tailpipe emissions and eliminate federal subsidies for electric vehicles, with Barrasso adding that Zeldin “will right the ship and restore balance at the EPA.”

PBS thinks the following reflects poorly on Zeldin. It makes me feel even better about this great choice to head the EPA.

The League of Conservation Voters, a national environmental advocacy group, has panned Zeldin’s lifetime environmental record, giving him a 14 percent score. Like all Republicans at the time, he voted against the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act aimed at boosting renewable energy and manufacturing and fighting climate change.

With Sean Duffy and Lee Zeldin freeing the auto industry to once again respond to market demand for automobiles, the leaders of General Motors and Ford are now in an interesting situation. General Motors’ CEO Mary Barra has handled her role as little more than an order-taking clerk obediently implementing the instructions given to her by regulators in the Obama/Biden regime. It is doubtful that she has the ability to answer to the marketplace rather than to government handlers. She has a very short window of time to announce that GM is abandoning its promised all-electric future before it becomes clear she cannot run the company.

On the other hand, Ford CEO Jim Farley is a true believer in the globalist left’s climate agenda to impose restrictions on consumers’ driving choices. Like Bill Ford, Mr. Farley has made clear his contempt for Ford’s traditional products and its traditional customer base. It is doubtful that Farley can lead a company whose customers want to buy products that he and Bill Ford detest and do not want to sell.

The Boards at both Ford and GM likely need to take action quickly to install leadership that can prosper in the impending era of auto manufacturing freedom.

[buck.throckmorton at protonmail dot com]

posted by Buck Throckmorton at 11:00 AM

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