Environmental Groups Push Ford, VW to Honor U.S. Fuel Economy Plan

Several U.S. environmental groups are coordinating an effort to pressure carmakers—beginning with Ford and Volkswagen—to make good on their previous commitments to meet fuel economy standards set during the Obama administration.

The coalition is trying to get the carmakers to distance themselves from the industry’s Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers lobbying group, Automotive News reports. AAM backs the Trump administration’s goal of revisiting and perhaps scrapping next-round standards that would push fuel economy averages to about 50 mpg by 2025.

One of the “green” groups, Public Citizen, accuses carmakers and the Trump administration of “conspiring” to undo standards that so far have been successful in lowering carbon dioxide emissions. The coalition insists the benefits in terms of cleaner air and fuel cost savings offset the expense of the technology required to meet the standards.

The Obama era CAFE plan, which was endorsed by carmakers in 2011, has a built-in mechanism that calls for a review of the standards by next April. In January the outgoing Obama administration deemed the 2025 timetable both feasible and reasonable. But carmakers claim the assessment was hasty and incomplete. President Trump agreed and ordered a fresh review.

Participants in the coalition include Environment America, Public Citizen, the Safe Climate Campaign and the Sierra Club. The group says it is focusing on Ford because of Chairman Bill Ford’s has championed environmental causes and VW because it wants the company to do more to offset its diesel emission cheating scandal.