Trump cuts fuel economy standards back to 2014 levels

特朗普将燃油经济性标准削减至 2014 年水平

The federal government’s war on fuel efficiency claimed another victim today. The Department of Transportation released a new rule for the country’s Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, which, as expected, discourage the very idea of economical vehicles. Among the changes is a rollback to fuel economy numbers not seen in more than a decade, below even the low standards implemented in 2020, the last time President Trump was in power. The new goal is just 34.9 mpg by model year 2031.

联邦政府对燃油效率的“战争”今天又有了新的牺牲品。美国交通部发布了一项针对全国“企业平均燃油经济性”（CAFE）标准的新规，正如预期所料，该规定抑制了经济型汽车的发展。此次调整包括将燃油经济性指标倒退至十多年前的水平，甚至低于特朗普总统上一个任期内 2020 年实施的低标准。新目标设定为到 2031 车型年仅需达到每加仑 34.9 英里（mpg）。

This is nothing if not expected. When Sean Duffy was installed as Transportation secretary last January, he immediately announced that any fuel efficiency standards put in place under the Biden administration were dead and buried. Those rules had a slower ramp up than some might have liked but would have required automakers to sell many more electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids. Now, we may have the possibility of some OEMs dropping their EVs and PHEVs entirely.

这完全在预料之中。当肖恩·达菲（Sean Duffy）去年 1 月就任交通部长时，他立即宣布拜登政府时期制定的任何燃油效率标准都已“彻底作废”。尽管那些规则的推进速度可能不如某些人所愿，但它们本要求汽车制造商销售更多的电动汽车和插电式混合动力汽车。现在，我们可能会看到一些原始设备制造商（OEM）完全放弃其电动汽车（EV）和插电式混合动力汽车（PHEV）产品线。

The notice of final rulemaking criticizes the idea of emissions credits and blames them for automakers not investing in cleaner engine technology, and from model year 2028, such credits are a thing of the past. And plug-in vehicles will now no longer be included in an automaker’s fleet average; under previous rules an EV or PHEV could have a CAFE rating of hundreds of mpg. Then again, since last year, Duffy’s department hasn’t exactly been proactive about enforcing the existing rules. In July last year it told automakers that it was not going to bother fining any of them for exceeding the CAFE limits, going back as far as 2022.

这份最终规则制定通知批评了排放积分制度，并将其归咎为汽车制造商不愿投资清洁发动机技术的原因。从 2028 车型年开始，此类积分将成为历史。此外，插电式车辆将不再被计入汽车制造商的车队平均值；而在之前的规则下，一辆电动汽车或插电式混合动力汽车的 CAFE 评级可以达到数百 mpg。话又说回来，自去年以来，达菲领导的部门在执行现有规则方面一直不够积极。去年 7 月，该部门告知汽车制造商，不会对 2022 年以来超过 CAFE 限值的企业进行罚款。

One perhaps not-terrible change in the new rule is a tightening of the light truck loophole. Passenger cars and light trucks have been classified separately under CAFE, with weaker standards for the latter. That encouraged car companies to redesign their crossovers such that they could be categorized as light trucks, with the end result that our roads are full of SUVs that are bigger and thirstier than they should be. Should these regulations still be in effect by model year 2030, they will “change classification criteria starting in model year 2030 to reflect each vehicle’s intended use accurately, flipping the current fleet mix of approximately 70 [percent] light trucks and 30 [percent] passenger vehicles to around 70 [percent] passenger cars and 30 [percent] light trucks,” according to the Department of Transportation.

新规中一个或许不算太坏的变化是收紧了“轻型卡车”的漏洞。在 CAFE 标准下，乘用车和轻型卡车被分别归类，后者的标准较弱。这促使汽车公司重新设计其跨界车，以便将其归类为轻型卡车，最终导致我们的道路上充斥着比实际需求更大、更耗油的 SUV。据交通部称，如果这些法规在 2030 车型年仍然有效，它们将“从 2030 车型年开始更改分类标准，以准确反映每辆车的预期用途，将目前约 70% 轻型卡车和 30% 乘用车的车队结构，反转为约 70% 乘用车和 30% 轻型卡车”。

The meagre standard of 34.9 mpg seems even more pathetic in light of history. In 2012, the Obama administration published new CAFE standards that set us on a road to 54 mpg by 2025. Obviously, we did not arrive at that destination, due to constant assaults on fuel efficiency under the first Trump administration. That government finally published new CAFE standards in 2020, cutting them from 46.7 mpg in model year 2026 to 40.4 mpg. That damage was slowly undone under the Biden administration, which also changed rules to encourage smaller and lighter vehicles. Now, it seems we go backward just as fuel prices are climbing higher than Americans have seen before.

回顾历史，34.9 mpg 的微薄标准显得更加可悲。2012 年，奥巴马政府发布了新的 CAFE 标准，目标是到 2025 年达到 54 mpg。显然，由于特朗普第一任期内对燃油效率的持续打击，我们未能实现这一目标。该政府最终在 2020 年发布了新的 CAFE 标准，将 2026 车型年的目标从 46.7 mpg 削减至 40.4 mpg。拜登政府缓慢修复了这些损害，并修改了规则以鼓励更小、更轻的车辆。现在，就在燃油价格攀升至美国人前所未见的水平之际，我们似乎又在倒退。

“The CAFE program was created in the 1970s in response to price shocks at the pump that raised costs for every American. Lowering these standards now, when so many families are already struggling with rising transportation costs, will only make things harder for them. At the same time, lowering the bar for innovation risks a future where the global auto market leaves American industry behind,” said Albert Gore, executive director of the Zero Emissions Transportation Association.

“CAFE 项目创建于 20 世纪 70 年代，旨在应对当时推高每个美国人生活成本的油价冲击。现在，在许多家庭已经因交通成本上升而挣扎的情况下降低这些标准，只会让他们处境更加艰难。同时，降低创新门槛可能会导致未来全球汽车市场将美国工业抛在身后，”零排放交通协会（Zero Emissions Transportation Association）执行董事阿尔伯特·戈尔（Albert Gore）表示。