Court Ruling Kills Special-Interest Appeal to Stop CAFE Increase

A court filing by a coalition of special-interest groups opposing newly enacted auto industry regulations to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions and increase fuel economy is denied, likely removing any impediment to the historic standards.

A Washington appeals court Tuesday rejected the filing by the groups, which consisted mostly of states and energy and manufacturing lobbyists fearing their businesses could face similar regulatory action by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers joined the effort to defeat the groups’ petition, arguing the auto industry has begun producing vehicles to meet the new standards and throwing them out could lead to the state-by-state CO2 emissions regulations it had fought for years.

Auto Alliance members include Ford, General Motors, Chrysler, Toyota and Volkswagen.

Agreeing to the biggest-ever hike in corporate average fuel economy two years ago, the auto makers won a key provision requiring that states such as California comply with a single national standard for emissions.

Auto makers selling in the U.S. must meet a fleetwide fuel economy target of 35.5 mpg (6.6 L/100 km) by 2016.

“We wanted to keep the standards,” Auto Alliance spokeswoman Gloria Bergquist tells WardsAuto shortly after the ruling.

Auto Alliance adds in a statement: “Auto makers are already producing almost 300 highly fuel-efficient models, so we have made a huge investment in technologies and want to sell these models in high numbers. A single national fuel economy/carbon dioxide program is among our top policy priorities to avoid the chaos arising from several different regulatory bodies each setting their own standards.”

The court’s ruling also would appear to solidify future regulations more recently agreed to by auto makers hiking fuel economy to 54.5 mpg (4.3 L/100 km) by 2025.

However, it would not affect California’s current plan to mandate that one in every seven vehicles sold in the state qualify as a zero-emissions model. Auto makers appear satisfied with future product plans to meet that requirement and likely would revisit the rule with California if consumer demand for the cars does not sufficiently increase to reach the targets.

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