Rep. Mike Kelly’s Amendment Demanding Answers on New CAFE Standards Passes House

Washington, D.C. —U.S. Representative Mike Kelly (PA-03) offered an amendment to  H.R. 3409 that would require the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to submit a report to Congress estimating the economic impact of the Obama Administration’s latest Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standard and how it would affect highway safety.

Specifically, Rep. Kelly’s amendment, which passed the House today by a vote of 242 to 168, would require DOT to calculate:

(1) the total number of jobs that will be lost due to decreased demand;

(2) the number of additional fatalities and injuries that will be caused by the rule; and
(3) the additional cost to the economy of the redundant regulation of fuel economy by the Environmental Protection Agency and State agencies for model years 2011through 2025. 

In addition, the amendment (attached) would prohibit DOT from consulting with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or the California Air Resources Board (CARB) on the report. Both the EPA and CARB were heavily influential in negotiating the new CAFE standards, despite the fact that they are not charged in statute with setting fuel economy standards nor do they have national highway safety authority.

According to a staff report by the House committee on Oversight and Government Reform,

the Administration’s new rule, which raises the fuel efficiency of the nation's cars and trucks to an average of 54.5 miles per gallon, will increase vehicle cost, diminish automobile safety, and decrease consumer choice. Estimates show that the new regulation will raise the cost of a new car by $3,000, and will cost automakers more than $200 billion to comply, making it the most expensive mandate every imposed on the automobile industry.

Rep. Kelly issued the following statement:

“I am all for producing more fuel efficient cars and trucks, and it’s an important goal all manufacturers should aspire to. However, the way in which the Obama Administration’s MY 2017 to 2025 CAFE standards were negotiated was highly politicized, secretive, and without careful consideration of how much these standards would affect consumers, both in terms of cost and safety. My amendment will hold this Administration accountable to the American people, whose best interests were sidelined in support of a radical environmental agenda that will require consumers to pay more for cars that are less safe.”

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