U.S. appeals court upholds 2012-16 fuel standards

U.S. appeals court upholds 2012-16 fuel standards

The Obama administration’s efforts to limit greenhouse gas emissions, including setting 2012-16 fuel-efficiency standards and tailpipe standards, has been upheld by The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

The federal appeals court this week dismissed challenges to the law brought by Texas and other states as well as the chemical, energy, utility, agriculture and mining industries, and the National Association of Manufacturers.

The appellate action paves the way for the administration to finalize the 2017-25 fuel-efficiency standards and greenhouse gas emissions limits by August. The rules will hike new vehicle standards to 54.5 mpg by 2025.

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, representing ten major OEMs, had backed the administration originally, but is now raising serious concerns about future fuel economy standards. “We supported upholding 2012-16, since we are already building more fuel-efficient autos to meet these standards,” said spokeswoman Gloria Bergquist.

The court rejected claims the EPA didn’t do enough to reach its findings, and said the agency’s findings were “unambiguously correct.”

“EPA simply did here what it and other decision makers often must do to make a science-based judgment: It sought out and reviewed existing scientific evidence to determine whether a particular finding was warranted,” the court found. “This is how science works. EPA is not required to re-prove the existence of the atom every time it approaches a scientific question,” the court concluded.

Meanwhile, the House Appropriations Committee this week voted to bar the Environmental Protection Agency from setting vehicle tailpipe emissions limits for the 2017-25 model years, or allowing California to set its own rules. Whether the Senate goes along with this plan remains to be seen with the political gridlock that has characterized Capitol Hill for the past three years. The same measure coming over from the House to the Senate last year at this time failed, the principle predicate of which would leave NHTSA alone in charge of tail pipe emission rules.

NADA has lead dealer support of this measure, noting that it “shows continued bipartisan concern over how people can afford the big jump in car prices as part of the 2025 regulations.