Five environmental groups have filed a lawsuit against the Department of Transportation over its decision to weaken Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. The groups — the Center for Biological Diversity, Conservation Law Foundation, Environmental Defense Fund, Public Citizen, and Sierra Club — submitted a petition for review in federal appellate court. The filing is preliminary and does not yet specify the legal arguments.
The Energy Department's own analysis says the rule would make cars use 45% more fuel by 2031 and raise gas prices by 76 cents a gallon. The administration finalized the change despite opposition from the vast majority of the 68,294 public comments received during the proposal. CAFE standards date to the 1970s, and a 2020 study credited them with saving $5 trillion and preventing the import of 2 trillion gallons of gasoline.
The initial filing leaves legal arguments open, but similar challenges have relied on the claim that such rules are arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act. The Natural Resources Defense Council, not a party here, has won 90% of its cases against the Trump administration. Whether the rollback will lower real-world fuel economy is debated, since consumer demand for efficient vehicles is rising, but automakers praised the move and a UC Davis study found manufacturers have been reluctant to sell EVs to US buyers. This account is based on a single source, so no differing reports are available.