American Energy Alliance 1155 15th Street NW, Suite 900
Washington, DC 20005
April 6, 2020
The Honorable Donald J. Trump President of the United States The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President:
We write you to express our 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 Fuel Economy (CAFE) program.
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 b y 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.
Absent this tough but fair rule, are the previous administration’s CAFE mandate would have made this problem even worse. Thus shifting burdens onto families with needs or preferences for larger vehicles. Such families not only include those with children, but also those with individuals having mobility challenges. Those families and individuals who prefer or need trucks, SUVs, and crossovers pay more to subsidize those who buy smaller vehicles or electric vehicles under the existing mandate. This significant, needless, and unjust cost is a very real regressive tax on American families that has made our country worse off.
The existing unworkable mandate has also pushed people toward cars that are less safe. The cost increases on new vehicles inflicted by CAFE keep families in older, less safe, less reliable vehicles longer. While we would have preferred an even greater reduction or even the elimination of the mandate altogether, the right-sizing of this mandate to a 1.5-percent annual increase in fuel economy from an onerous 5 percent will improve the vehicle market on all fronts and restore the decision about the types of cars people can buy to consumers and the auto industry.
The new rule is projected to save Americans $1,400 over the life of a new vehicle. More importantly, it will reduce collision fatalities by more than 3,300 annually and it will reduce hospitalizations by tens of thousands. This rule gives consumers a chance to have newer, safer, and more affordable vehicles.
It should also be noted that the reform is a floor, not a cap. Automakers are free to manufacture and consumers are free to buy vehicles with greater fuel efficiency if so desired.
The fundamental question on the CAFE mandate is clear: who should decide which cars and trucks are on the road, families or bureaucrats in Sacramento and Washington? This plan empowers consumers and car buyers.
Sincerely,
Thomas J. Pyle
American Energy Alliance
Bethany Marcum Alaska Policy Forum
Lisa B. Nelson
American Legislative Exchange Council
Michael Bowman ALEC Action
Phil Kerpen
American Commitment
Rick Manning
Americans for Limited Government
Brent Wm. Gardner Americans for Prosperity
Grover Norquist Americans for Tax Reform
Jim Waters Bluegrass Institute
David T. Stevenson Caesar Rodney Institute
Norman Singleton Campaign for Liberty
Matthew Kandrach
Consumer Action for a Strong Economy
Ryan Ellis
Center for a Free Economy
Andrew F. Quinlan
Center for Freedom and Prosperity
Jeffrey Mazzella
Center for Individual Freedom
Isaac Orr
Center of the American Experiment
Leo Knepper
Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania
Chip Ford
Citizens for Limited Taxation
Mark Mathis
Clear Energy Alliance
Craig Rucker
Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow
Myron Ebell
Competitive Enterprise Institute
Craig Richardson E&E Legal Institute
Robert Roper
Ethan Allen Institute
Timothy Head
Faith & Freedom Coalition
Annette Meeks
Freedom Foundation of Minnesota
Adam Brandon FreedomWorks
George Landrith Frontiers of Freedom
James Taylor Heartland Institute
Jessica Anderson
Heritage Action for America
Mario H. Lopez
Hispanic Leadership Fund
Fred Birnbaum
Idaho Freedom Foundation
Andrew Langer Institute for Liberty
Vinnie Vernuccio
Institute for the American Worker
Hector Barreto
The Latino Coalition
Seton Motley Less Government
Jason Isaac Life:Powered
Brett Healy
MacIver Institute for Public Policy
Jason Hayes
Mackinac Center for Public Policy
Laurie Belsito
Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance
Harry Alford
National Black Chamber of Commerce
Joshua H. Crawford Pegasus Institute
Daniel Erspamer Pelican Institute
Horace Cooper Project 21
Derrick Hollie Reaching America
Mike Stenhouse
Rhode Island Center for Freedom & Prosperity
Paul J. Gessing
Rio Grande Foundation
David Williams
Taxpayers Protection Alliance
Kevin Roberts
Texas Public Policy Foundation