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The Trump administration Monday finalized the rollback of a major fuel economy standard for cars and trucks, a move critics say will cause more climate-warming pollution, human health problems and higher fuel costs for consumers.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a part of the Department of Transportation, published new Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards Monday, greatly reducing the fuel efficiency for new passenger cars and light trucks made between 2022 and 2031.

The Department of Transportation estimates that the new standards would correspond to an industry fleetwide average of about 34.9 miles per gallon for new vehicles in model year 2031. The previous standard, set in 2022 during the Biden administration, would have required around 50.4 miles per gallon, driving automakers to invest more heavily in gasoline-free electric vehicles.

The DOT said in a news release the move would give automakers more flexibility, reduce the average cost of a new vehicle and encourage new car sales. The Trump administration continued to call the Biden rules an EV “mandate.”

“Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, we have finally ended the illegal mandate that forced automakers to produce more expensive electric vehicles that American families didn’t want,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said.

EPA No Longer Considering Lives Saved in Pollution Rules, Only Cost to Business

The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a group that advocates on behalf of auto manufacturers, praised the new standards.

“The standards finalized under the previous administration effectively........

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