Today, the Energy & Environment Legal Institute (E&E Legal), joined with nearly fifty other representatives from free-market organizations in a letter to President Trump expressing support for “the Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles Rule. This joint Department of Transportation (DOT) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rulemaking will reform the federal fuel mandates known as the Corporate Average FuelEconomy (CAFE) program.”  The letter, initiated by Tom Pyle of the American Energy Alliance (AEA), adds:

The problems with the program are numerous and have only been compounded over its 40-year history. The fuel economy mandate has imposed a needless cost on car buyers of around $4,000 per vehicle and the previous administration’s plan would have cost car buyers more than $7,000 by 2025.

To meet the mandate, automakers often have sold smaller, less desirable cars at a discount, while increasing prices on larger, more popular cars, crossovers, SUVs, and trucks. Today, the average transaction price for light vehicles in the United States is approaching $39,000.

Click here for the full text of the letter.