Congress: Don’t Put Affordability in the Rear View, says National Consumers League
Media Contact: Lisa McDonald, Vice President of Communications, 202-207-2829
Washington, DC – Today, the National Consumers League (NCL) submitted a letter for the record in advance of the House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on “Rules of the Road: Examining Legislation to Modernize the Clean Air Act’s Mobile Source Requirements.” As families across the country reel from the ongoing affordability crisis, NCL encourages lawmakers to consider the substantial effect fuel economy features have on alleviating household budgetary pressure, as detailed in the report titled Sticker Shock.
“The American people do not have to choose among vehicle affordability and safety, energy independence, public health, and environmental stewardship,” the letter states. “Compliance with federal fuel economy and safety standards accounts for a small fraction of vehicle expenditures, but it generates thousands of dollars in benefits per household and trillions of dollars in societal benefits.”
The letter notes that all equipment upgrades—which include changes in fuel economy, comfort, convenience, durability, nonmandatory safety improvements, and safety standards that first require compliance after 2019—account for only $3,040.20, or 13 percent, of the increase in average expenditures per new passenger vehicle since 2002. Yet fuel-economy improvements save owners of model year 2024 cars $9,099.75 and owners of model year 2024 light trucks $9,920.23 in avoided gasoline expenditures over the lifetime of the vehicle.
A copy of the letter can be found here.
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About the National Consumers League (NCL)
The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.
