Fuel Efficiency

Carbon dioxide emissions from new cars in Europe increased for a second consecutive year in 2018, according to data published by the European Union's environment agency on Wednesday, putting carmakers on a collision course with the bloc's climate goals. The EU's executive Commission urged carmakers to do more to cut their fleets' carbon footprint to meet tougher emissions targets coming into force this year, even as they grapple with a sales slump and disrupted supply chains due to the coronav

A group of 23 U.S. states led by California, the District of Columbia and four major cities are filing suit Wednesday to challenge a Trump administration decision to weaken Obama administration fuel efficiency standards. In March, the Trump administration issued final rules requiring 1.5% annual increases in efficiency through 2026 - far weaker than the 5% increases in the discarded Obama-era rules - but abandoned its August 2018 proposal to freeze requirements at 2020 levels through 2026. Las

Just two months after taking office, President Donald Trump in March 2017 traveled to Michigan to announce that he would undo ambitious vehicle emissions standards mandated under his predecessor Barack Obama, portraying the reversal as a boost to the U.S. auto industry centered in the Midwestern state. "The assault on the American auto industry is over," the Republican president said at the time. It took Trump's administration three years to follow through on his promise.

President Donald Trump is poised to roll back ambitious Obama-era vehicle mileage standards and raise the ceiling on damaging fossil fuel emissions for years to come, gutting one of the United States' biggest efforts against climate change. The Trump administration is expected to release a final rule Tuesday on mileage standards through 2026. The change — making good on the rollback after two years of Trump threatening and fighting states and a faction of automakers that opposed the move — wat

The U.S. vehicle fleet hit a record for fuel efficiency in 2018 averaging 25.1 miles per gallon (mpg) in real-world driving as it rose 0.2 mpg, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said. The fleet is also preliminarily anticipated to jump to 25.5 mpg for the 2019 model year. The EPA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are working to finalize rules to rollback Obama-era requirements through the 2026 model year.

The Trump administration has ended its antitrust probe into a deal between California and four of the world's biggest automakers, after failing to find that the companies' conduct violated the law. The Justice Department's investigation, which started last fall, had aimed to determine whether antitrust laws were violated by Ford, Honda, Volkswagen and BMW in reaching the July deal with California. Under the deal, the automakers planned to comply with pollution and related mileage requirements

The Trump administration is making a concession on its proposed minimum fuel economy requirement for new vehicles, but environmental groups and a key Democratic senator complain it does not go far enough, and still falls well below the requirements set under the Obama administration. Fuel economy standards would increase 1.5% per year from 2021 through 2026 under the new proposal. Environmentalists and Delaware Sen. Tom Carper hardly cheered the move, which doesn't come close to the 5% annual

New rules enacting President Donald Trump's reductions in fuel efficiency standards for new vehicles through 2026 moved closer to reality on Tuesday when U.S. agencies sent proposals to the White House for final review. After more than 17 months of discussion, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) submitted proposed rules for 2021 through 2026 model year fuel efficiency to the White House Office of Management and Budget, the agencie

A panel of scientific advisers, including several appointed by President Donald Trump, says some rollbacks of clean-air and vehicle rules proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency are based on weak scientific analysis and should be revised, according to draft reports published on Tuesday. The EPA's Science Advisory Board (SAB), which is tasked with providing independent input for agency policy, published four draft reports on the last day of the year analyzing the scientific underpinnings

California and 22 other U.S. states filed suit on Friday to challenge the Trump administration's decision to revoke California's authority to set stiff vehicle tailpipe emissions rules and require a rising number of zero emission vehicles (ZEV). The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, seeks to overturn the Environmental Protection Agency's decision in September to revoke portions of a waiver it granted in 2013. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, w

The world's thirst for oil will continue to grow until the 2030s, with climate-damaging emissions climbing until at least 2040 — and consumers' insatiable appetite for SUVs is a big reason why. All this is according to an important global industry forecast released Wednesday by the International Energy Agency that is used as guidance by oil companies and governments. This year, amid growing pressure from young activists like Greta Thunberg and others for tougher action on emissions, the IEA's