BOSTON — Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell on Oct. 2 joined a coalition of 26 states, counties, and cities in a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s rollback of federal fuel economy standards for new passenger vehicles and light trucks.
According to Attorney General Campbell’s office, the lawsuit, filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, challenges a final rule issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) which weakens corporate average fuel economy, or CAFE, standards. In the lawsuit, the coalition alleges that NHTSA violated federal law by setting fuel economy requirements below the “maximum feasible” level required under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act.
Enacted in 1975, the Energy Policy and Conservation Act requires NHTSA to establish “maximum feasible” fuel economy standards for new vehicles based on technological feasibility, economic practicality, how other federal vehicle regulations affect fuel efficiency, and the need to conserve energy.
The coalition argues that the new requirements are less stringent than fuel economy levels already achieved by the nation’s vehicle fleet in 2021, despite advances in automotive technology.
According to Campbell’s office, the new standards covering the next five years require less fuel efficiency than the U.S. vehicle fleet achieved in 2021.
The coalition also argues that NHTSA improperly excluded millions of electric vehicles from portions of its analysis when determining the level of fuel efficiency the automobile industry could feasibly achieve.
In addition, the lawsuit challenges NHTSA’s analyses of vehicle affordability, sales, fleet turnover, fuel savings and vehicle safety.
“Essentially, NHTSA’s unlawful novel reinterpretation of the law renders the federal fuel-economy program toothless, unable to protect consumers against rising gas prices or the ongoing global oil shock from President Trump’s war with Iran,” Campbell’s office said.
The coalition alleges that the new rule could result in nearly $220 billion in lost fuel savings compared with the previous standards, money it says “drivers would have saved at the pump under the previous fuel economy standards, which will instead benefit Big Oil.” It also argues that NHTSA failed to adequately consider potential future costs associated with climate change.
Under the new rule, the federal CAFE credit trading program is also scheduled to end in 2028, a move the coalition says will significantly harm the electric vehicle industry in the U.S. and its workforce.
“NHTSA’s final rule is arbitrary and capricious and violates the Administrative Procedure Act and the Energy Policy and Conservation Act,” Campbell’s office said.
Joining Massachusetts Attorney General Campbell in the lawsuit are the attorneys general of California, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai‘i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.
The City of Chicago, City and County of Denver, City of New York, and City and County of San Francisco joined the lawsuit as well.
