SEEC Decries Trump’s Obsession with High American Fuel Prices

Washington, D.C. – The leaders of the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC), including Co-Chairs Reps. Doris Matsui, Mike Quigley, and Paul Tonko and Vice Chairs Reps. Don Beyer, Suzanne Bonamici, Sean Casten, Mike Levin, and Chellie Pingree, released the following statement in response to the Trump Administration’s final decision to roll back the Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) fuel efficiency standards for cars and light-duty trucks.

“Gas has been stuck at staggeringly high prices for months and record-breaking diesel prices are sending shockwaves through our economy, but Donald Trump continues to find new and irresponsible ways to keep fuel prices at unbearably high levels. 

“Fuel efficiency standards for our vehicles mean dollars saved at the gas pump for American households. By significantly weakening federal mileage standards, our families and communities are being forced to drive less efficient and more polluting vehicles for decades to come. Lowering the average fuel efficiency of our cars for model year 2031 from 50.4 miles per gallon to 34.9 miles per gallon means that Americans will have to burn through billions of additional gallons of gasoline by 2050, pay billions of dollars more on fuel, and rely even more on foreign fuel producers. Meanwhile, the global economy is already rapidly manufacturing and deploying more efficient and cleaner cars, leaving American automakers in the dust as global demand moves towards cleaner transportation.  

“Transportation is a critical part of our daily lives, and we are watching as it is becoming more and more excruciatingly expensive under Trump’s self-inflicted affordability crisis. This is a lose-lose-lose for our nation.”