California and 25 other states have sued the Trump administration over its decision to roll back fuel economy standards to 34.9 mpg by 2031, down from the Biden-era target of 50.4 mpg. Led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, the coalition argues the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration violated federal law by failing to set the "maximum feasible" standards and using a flawed baseline that ignored existing electric vehicles. While automakers like Stellantis welcomed the change, environmental groups have launched parallel lawsuits.
Lawsuit by state coalition
- ▪Twenty-six states, including California, filed a lawsuit on October 2, 2026, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit to block the Trump administration's fuel economy rollback
- ▪California Attorney General Rob Bonta argued that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration improperly excluded existing electric vehicles from its baseline fleet calculation, dramatically distorting the fuel economy baseline analysis to justify weaker standards for petrol-powered vehicles
Details of the rollback
- ▪The United States Department of Transportation stated that rolling back the fuel economy standards to 34.9 miles per gallon by 2031 could save American taxpayers $138 billion over the next five years
- ▪The United States Department of Transportation announced a rollback of fuel economy standards to a fleet average of 34.9 miles per gallon by model year 2031
Previous Biden-Era standards
- ▪Under the administration of former President Joe Biden, fuel economy standards were set to reach a fleet average of 50.4 miles per gallon by model year 2031
- ▪Republicans in Congress eliminated fines for automakers that failed to meet mileage standards, which the New York Times reported rendered the Biden-era standard of 50.4 miles per gallon by 2031 toothless
Debatable claims
- ▪The Trump administration's fuel economy rollback does more harm than good
- ▪The NHTSA violated its congressional mandate by lowering fuel economy standards
- ▪The NHTSA's exclusion of electric vehicles from its baseline calculation is unjustified
- ▪States are justified in suing the federal government to block environmental rollbacks
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