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The American Oil Industry’s Playbook, Illustrated: How Drillers Offload Costly Cleanup Onto the Public

Oil executive Tom Ragsdale walked away from his old wells, making the pollution left behind the state of New Mexico’s problem. His tactics, however, are ubiquitous in the industry.

by Mark Olalde, illustrations by Peter Arkle, special to ProPublica

Co-published with Capital & Main

December 30, 2024, 5:00 am

ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up for Dispatches, a newsletter that spotlights wrongdoing around the country, to receive our stories in your inbox every week.

In December 1990, officials in the federal agency tasked with regulating offshore oil and gas drilling received a memo with a dire warning: America faced a ticking time bomb of environmental liability from unplugged oil and gas wells, wrote the agency’s chief of staff. Those wells and their costly cleanup obligations were being concentrated in the hands of cash-strapped drillers at the same time as production was shrinking. (The document, unearthed by public interest watchdog organization Documented, was shared with ProPublica and Capital & Main.)

More than three decades later, little action has been taken to heed that warning, and the time bomb is threatening to explode.

Read More

A four-year grassroots campaign has transformed into a major ARENA-backed pilot to help up to 1,000 Canberra households go electric.

The post SwitchedOn podcast: The inexperienced volunteers who put an entire suburb on the path to electrification appeared first on Renew Economy.

In our latest, we talk with author and labor historian John Hanson about the 1934 Teamsters strike in Minneapolis. Listen in: Guest bio// John Hanson is the author of “Fight…

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 29, 2026

 

White Mesa Concerned Community

protectwhitemesa.org 

MEDIA ADVISORY

Contacts: 

Yolanda Badback, White Mesa Concerned Community, (435) 459-2461, ybadback427@gmail.com 

Bradley Angel, Greenaction for Health & Environmental Justice, (415) 722-5270, bradley@greenaction.org

Photos and video (free for media use): https://bit.ly/White-Mesa-2025-Photos

White Mesa Ute Invite Public to Join 10th Annual Spiritual Walk to Protest Energy Fuels Uranium Mill 

 

What: A rally and spiritual walk to protect the White Mesa Ute Community’s health, water, air, land, culture, and sacred sites from the Energy Fuels uranium mill located just north of our reservation and just east of Bears Ears National Monument. The community-led walk protests the mill operating as an international dumping ground for radioactive waste. We walk in solidarity with our relatives across Indian Country, and with people across Utah, the Southwest, and the world, from Japan to Europe to Madagascar, suffering due to radioactive materials destined to be processed and buried at the mill near our community. Please join us.

 

When: Saturday, October 17, 2026, 11 a.m. MDT rally followed by spiritual walk to the Energy Fuels uranium mill, about five miles on relatively flat pavement. Wear comfortable shoes and bring plenty of water. Limited number of vehicle seats available for elders and those not able to walk the whole way.

 

Where: The White Mesa Ute Community Center in White Mesa, Utah, off Highway 191. The community center is on the west side of the highway. Turn west at the gas station and go one block south.

 

Why: The Ute Mountain Ute Community of White Mesa and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe’s Environmental Programs Department are concerned about contamination from the uranium mill and desecration of sacred sites. This is our 10th year of leading the rally and walk to the mill. The uranium mill, owned by Energy Fuels Resources, is also where uranium ore from the Pinyon Plain Mine, near the Grand Canyon, is trucked more than 300 miles for processing; Native American tribes, including the Havasupai Tribe, strongly oppose that mine. Amid the administration and the State of Utah’s push to boost uranium and nuclear power, more uranium is trucked from the Energy-Fuels-owned La Sal Mines Complex about 60 miles to the mill, and at least 72 new mining claims have been staked on lands cut from Bears Ears National Monument. Trucks hauling uranium ore are a constant presence on Highway 191 through our community, the same road our children travel to school, and at least two uranium haul trucks have crashed on the Navajo Nation this year. The waste from all this uranium-ore processing is dumped in pits near our community. As far away as Madagascar, Indigenous people strongly oppose Energy Fuels’ operations. 

 

Quotes:

“They want to expand the mill’s waste pits south towards our reservation. We are standing up and doing whatever we can to stop that from happening. We are a small community. We cannot do this alone. Please come join our walk and show the state of Utah and the world that we’ve had enough. Our children need clean water to drink and clean air to breathe. Your radioactive waste is not welcome here.” –Yolanda Badback, White Mesa Concerned Community cofounder

 

“The water under the mill is becoming more and more polluted and is moving toward our community. The acidity of the water is increasing, and heavy metals are rising.  We used to drink the spring water for ceremonial purposes. We don’t do

that anymore. We used to hunt for animals near our homes; we used to gather plants for baskets, and to eat. We don’t do that anymore as well.” –Anferny Cly, White Mesa Concerned Community

 

###

 

White Mesa Concerned Community is a grassroots group of concerned citizens of the Ute Mountain Ute community of White Mesa, Utah, located south of Energy Fuels’ uranium mill. We work to inform our people and protect our community, health, water, air, land, culture, and sacred sites from toxic contamination.

 

The 10th Annual Rally and Spiritual Walk is sponsored by the White Mesa Concerned Community and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe’s Environmental Programs Department.

 

Event co-sponsors: 

Ah Mut Pipa Foundation, Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, Bidii Roots, Children for a Safe Environment, Diné Care, Gila River Alliance for a Clean Environment, Grand Canyon Trust, Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice, Haul No!, HEAL Utah, Indigenous Environmental Network, Moab Mutual Aid, Multicultural Alliance for a Safe Environment, National Parks Conservation Association, New Mexico Social Justice and Equity Institute, Northern Arizona American Indian Movement, Nuclear Information and Resource Service, PANDOS, Red Water Pond Road Community Association, Sierra Club Utah Chapter, SLC Air Protectors, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, Uranium Watch, University of Utah Environmental Justice Clinic.

 

Click here to download this Press release in PDF Format

Fossil-fuel proponents have used a 'drop in the ocean' argument over their impact on the climate - a new tool developed by Australian researchers will now hold them to account.

The post Australian researchers launch “breakthrough” online tool to track climate damage of new fossil fuel projects appeared first on Renew Economy.

Greenbelt Alliance is proud to endorse Measure L in the city of Alameda. The Safer Alameda Act (Measure L) would open up new funding to prepare for flooding, earthquakes, and aging infrastructure. If approved, this $300 million local bond measure would provide a dedicated funding source to address critical infrastructure needs. These bond dollars would address identified infrastructure needs, including preventing flooding on city streets, addressing sea level rise, and supporting public safety response for emergencies.

Why It Matters

When it comes to protecting people and places,  prevention is the best strategy. That’s why we must fund climate resilience now while we still have time to adapt.

Vote YES on Measure L for a safer and more climate-resilient Alameda!

The post Vote Yes on Measure L To Better Prepare Alameda for Earthquakes, Floods, and Aging Infrastructure appeared first on Greenbelt Alliance.

If you've ever spent any time along the Platte River in the Fall, you may have spotted an odd sight in the river channel: Heavy farm equipment!  It can seem out of place on a wildlife sanctuary, but...

If you are a voter in Walnut Creek, vote YES on Measure U, which proposes updating zoning in Downtown Walnut Creek to allow for more than 200 high-quality senior homes on a transit-oriented site near the Walnut Creek BART station. The rezoning would create an opportunity to address the city’s growing need for senior housing while allowing residents to remain close to family, friends, healthcare, shopping, and other community services as they age.

Learn more about the Measure U campaign here.

The initiative would also support a mixed-use approach with community-serving retail and food-oriented businesses, creating a more vibrant and walkable downtown while supporting local businesses. By directing new housing to an area already served by BART, the initiative advances smart, sustainable growth and makes it easier for seniors to maintain mobility and independence without relying solely on a car. Greenbelt Alliance is joined by East Bay YIMBY and Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California in endorsing YES on the measure.

Why It Matters

As an organization whose mission is to educate, advocate, and collaborate to ensure the Bay Area’s lands and communities are resilient to a changing climate, we know that infill development is critical to achieving this vision. Measure U advances the kind of sustainable, transit-oriented development that makes the Bay Area livable for everyone. Supporting senior housing in downtown Walnut Creek means a more vibrant community and a healthier environment.

Vote YES on Measure U to create a more vibrant and walkable downtown while creating more housing options for seniors in Walnut Creek!

The post Vote Yes on Measure U For Sensible Rezoning That Brings More Homes to Walnut Creek appeared first on Greenbelt Alliance.

Follow the disappearing climate money Deepa Sivarajan Mon, 09/28/2026 - 12:50 pm

This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Barbara Grady

As the Western United States grapples with severe drought, leading cities to scramble for water and farmers to abandon some crops, a new scientific study has found that 122 major oil, gas, coal, and cement companies and state-owned operations are partially responsible.

The study found that climate change from all climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions over the last 70 years has resulted in a 36% decline in annual average mountain snowpacks, the major source of surface water in Western states – and that about 40% of that decline is linked to the climate pollution caused by just 122 companies.

The annual loss attributable to those 122 companies is equivalent to the amount of water held by Lake Mead, the nation’s largest reservoir, at full capacity. 

The authors of the peer-reviewed paper, “Carbon emissions exacerbating the Western US water crisis,” also found that global warming from greenhouse gas emissions has led to a 13% decline in average annual streamflows from mountains to the lower-lying areas that depend on them, and to a 4.3% increase in the need for agricultural irrigation. The study attributed about half the streamflow declines and roughly half the increased need for irrigation to the warming caused by the 122 companies. In other words, those companies’ products resulted in a 6% fall in streamflows in the region, according to the study. 

Nine scientists from the University of California at Merced and the Union of Concerned Scientists contributed to the study, published August 25 in the Nature magazine affiliate Communications Earth & Environment. 

The West relies on snowpack 

Summers are dry in the Western U.S. 

Precipitation occurs in winter, with much of it stored as snowpack in the mountains. The West’s multibillion-dollar agriculture industry and the reservoirs supplying cities and towns in 11 states depend on melted snow carried by rivers, streams, and water conveyance systems in late spring and summer. If the snowpack is scant or if snow melts early, water shortages can occur in summer when water demand is highest. 

The West’s historic megadrought has persisted for two decades. With less surface water available, farmers have had to pump more groundwater for irrigation, depleting aquifers so much that the ground is sinking in many agricultural areas. Some farmers in the Southwest have had to abandon crops or fallow fields for lack of sufficient water. Corpus Christi, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Phoenix are just some of the cities facing severe water shortages.

Tying drought to specific companies 

Emily Williams, lead study author and a postdoctoral research scientist at the University of California at Merced, said in an interview that the study allowed scientists to disentangle how much worse water scarcity became over the decade 2014 to 2024 because of climate-change-induced atmospheric warming, as well as how much worse it became specifically because of the warming emissions generated by 122 companies and their products. 

“It lets us get beyond how much more intense climate change is becoming to look at specific impacts like snowpack decline as well as specific sources” of emissions, she said. Her team found impacts on water resources “not just from climate change but because of emissions traceable to specific sources.” 

The 122 companies cited in the study are the world’s biggest producers of climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions cumulatively up to 2024; they are all coal, oil, gas, and cement producers. That list, known in climate science as the carbon majors and compiled by other scientists, is based on publicly reported coal, oil, gas, and cement production data along with scientific formulas for calculating emissions per unit of product produced. Since 2024, the list has grown to include 178 entities.

Chevron, ExxonMobil, BP, and Shell are the fourth-, fifth-, eighth-, and ninth-biggest cumulative emitters of greenhouse gases in the world, according to the most recent version of the list. The world’s three highest emitters are state-owned coal, oil, and gas companies from the former Soviet Union, China, and Saudi Arabia (Saudi Aramco). U.S. coal producers Core Natural Resources and Peabody Energy are also in the top 25 carbon majors. 

The study authors based their calculations on emissions since 1950, rather than earlier, because that was the decade when major oil and gas companies began to suspect that use of their products would cause changes to the Earth’s climate. Engineers at ExxonMobil who studied the issue determined that burning large amounts of fossil fuels would affect planetary climate systems. After its engineers shared their conclusions with management in the 1970s, ExxonMobil at first expanded that research to learn more and then – a decade later – pivoted to hiding the scientific findings and denying the existence of climate change, as reported in the Pulitzer Prize finalist series “The Road Not Taken” by Inside Climate News. Other major oil companies did the same. 

The study authors wrote that “roughly 70% of global industrial carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions since 1854 are traceable to 122 fossil fuel producers and cement manufacturers (“Carbon Majors”), and ~97% of these emissions occurred after 1950.” 

U.S. oil companies remain silent

When asked on August 27 for a comment on the water crisis study, Chevron – the largest U.S. emitter since 1950 – sent an automatic thank-you note but did not respond to the question by publication. 

Chevron’s second quarter earnings report, released August 12, highlighted record-breaking oil production. The report said the company “achieved new U.S. upstream production record of nearly 2.1 million barrels of oil equivalent per day and record U.S. refinery throughput of over 1 million barrels per day” as well as “competitive growth” in operations “around the globe.” Chevron also has embarked on developing oil resources in Venezuela, which has large deposits of heavy crude – a variety of oil that’s highly polluting to process. 

A media relations receptionist for ExxonMobil, the second-largest U.S. emitter, politely pledged to convey the reporter’s question to the media relations team, but the company did not respond. 

The methodology that Williams and her eight colleagues used involved overlaying observational data of recorded temperatures, precipitation, relative humidity, and hydrologic conditions annually over the decade 2014 to 2024 in seven water basins across the Western states with global climate models. Then they introduced emissions data in three variable scenarios to disentangle the effect of emissions from the carbon majors. One scenario included all human-caused emissions since 1950, the second included no anthropogenic emissions, and the third scenario excluded emissions traced to the 122 companies. 

“By comparing these scenarios and using pattern scaling, we calculated how much of the observed changes in snowpack, streamflow, and irrigation demand are attributable to climate change and specifically to emissions from the Carbon Majors,” the authors wrote.

Governments seek damages from polluters 

The study is part of a growing body of what’s called attribution science. As scientific consensus has solidified around climate change resulting from atmospheric warming caused by the burning of fossil fuels, emissions of methane, and destruction of forests, scientists are looking more deeply at the impacts of that warming, how to minimize future warming, and the specific sources of the emissions. 

Similar studies have attributed the size of areas burned in intense wildfires, specific measures of sea level rise, and the increased likelihood and intensity of extreme heat events to emissions from the carbon majors. 

Read: Scientists agree: Climate change is real and caused by people

“We have a choice of how much worse climate change is going to get, and that is a function of how much emissions we allow,” Williams said. She said some changes to the planet’s climate system are already irreversible, but we do have a choice to avoid others and the worsening of some that are already baked in.

Many states and cities around the world are taking the biggest climate polluters to court in hopes of getting financial resources to help them address damages from extreme hurricanes, wildfires and floods whose intensification can be linked to climate change. 

Two states – New York and Vermont – have passed climate superfund laws requiring that the biggest historical emitters help pay for climate damages incurred in their states. Many other states, including California, are considering such legislation. New York’s law was recently struck down in court, but the state also plans to appeal the decision. Meanwhile, several states are suing major fossil fuel companies over the damage they allege was wrought by their emissions.

“As climate impacts become increasingly severe, communities will be asking for more action” to help recover from damage and adapt to climate changes, said Carly Phillips, another author of the water study and senior research scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists. 

Communities, states and small countries are bearing an unfair share of the costs of the impacts of emissions, Phillips contended, compared with the companies that ignored the looming crisis for decades and even lobbied Congress against taking action sooner.

 “Given the outsized contribution of certain entities to the problem – 122 companies is a very small number – there should be some accountability,” she said.

GOLDEN—The Trump administration has scouted sites inside Grand Teton National Park for a Major League Baseball ballpark, the Washington Post reported Saturday, after MLB asked about staging a regular-season game in a national park. National Park Service Deputy Director Frank Lands toured three potential locations, including one the Post described as “already disturbed land.” WyoFile, reporting from the park Sunday, noted that while a baseball field can cover about four acres, a stadium can take 25 and a full complex with parking hundreds more, and that the park’s recently disturbed sagebrush amounts to roughly 10 acres bulldozed for a trailhead parking expansion. Visitors WyoFile spoke with greeted the news with disbelief, and neither Interior nor MLB responded to requests for comment.

The Center for Western Priorities released the following statement from Executive Director Aaron Weiss:

“Doug Burgum’s field of nightmares would drop a 20,000-seat stadium into one of America’s most-visited national parks while his department blocks hundreds of grants to the partner organizations that keep parks running. It’s another swing and a miss from the Interior secretary, who has already diverted millions of dollars from park entrance fees to the president’s botched vanity projects. We can’t afford to let Grand Teton become his single-use sandlot. A ballpark there would be bad news for the park’s bears… and every other animal.”

“America’s national parks are already in a league of their own. We have a responsibility to care for them, not turn them into a TV spectacle.”

The post STATEMENT: The National Park Service’s hare-brained plan to put a MLB ballpark in Grand Teton National Park appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

The company proposing a data center and natural gas plant on federal land near Henderson, Nevada has withdrawn its proposal. The 1,000-megawatt data center could have been one of the state’s most energy-intensive, using enough energy to power between 700,000 and 1 million homes, according to NV Energy.

In a statement, the developer said it consulted with the city of Henderson and the Bureau of Land Management and decided to withdraw its application “due to the city planned urban development efforts in same area.” According to the application, the developer estimated that the construction would cost between $1.5 billion and $2 billion, saying “additional environmental impacts are expected to be minimal.”

“Americans just don’t want data centers on public lands,” said Christian Solomon, the Sierra Club’s political director. “We’re trying to be mindful of scaled growth and ensuring that these data centers are being developed with the highest environmental standards in mind, as well as our neighbors’ peace of mind.”

Quick hits Developer pulls out of proposed data center, natural gas plant on Nevada BLM land

Las Vegas Review-Journal

Trump administration considers building baseball field in Grand Teton National Park

Washington Post | The Hill

‘Chronic stress:’ Federal workers who quit under Trump tell all

SFGATE

Archaeological site damaged by border wall construction much older than originally thought

Arizona Public Media

Arizona parks lose $25 million as Interior blocks funding deals

KVOA

Hualapai protest walk targets mines on Arizona Tribal lands

Arizona Republic

Federal government issues order defying Colorado’s plans to shut down coal power plant

CBS News

Opinion: Dropping Roadless Rule means disaster for public lands

Asheville Citizen Times

Quote of the day

They were purposefully decimating the workforce and no one knew what was coming next. If those amateurs thought they were running the Park Service like a business, they were terrible businessmen.”

—Kevin Heatley, former superintendent of Crater Lake National Park, SFGATE

Picture This

@nationalparkservice

Well, I waddle outta bed, and I’m ready for some fishin’
Score myself some salmon nutrition
Chomp and chew and live the fat bear life.

Dip in the water and the salmon start jumpin’
Out on the bank, my belly starts plumpin’
With bears like me at the falls from 9 to 5!

Fishin’ 9 to 5, what a way to prep for winter!
Bearly breakin’ sweat, they don’t need to be a sprinter.
They just stand and eat, but the fish deserve some credit,
Salmon pack the calories, and the bears are here to get it.

Fishin’ 9 to 5, these bears are on a mission,
All the way downstream for a FAT BEAR WEEK promotion.
Hardly take a break, just eat and eat some more,
While humans vote for the ones that they adore.

At Katmai, a bear’s day is less about climbing the corporate ladder and more about climbing Brooks Falls to fish for salmon. From morning til dusk, the bears spend their days fishing, eating, napping, eating, and putting on as much weight as possible before winter arrives.

No meetings. No emails. No performance reviews. Just working 9 to 5, for service and devotion…to fish. All in hopes of a FAT promotion.

Don’t worry bears, your fish will come in.

NPS Photo/C. Loberg
Words inspired by “9 to 5,” by Dolly Parton.
#9to5Day

Featured image: Lake Las Vegas in Henderson, Nevada. Source: Ken Lund, Wikimedia

The post Developer withdraws proposal for data center & natural gas plant on BLM land appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Sadly, the times when I’m most likely to get a peek at the Platte River are only when I’m crossing over it on I-80, driving to or from the many meetings where I sit in a room and talk to people...

For Immediate Release:

September 28, 2026

Contact:
Ashley Castaneda, ashley@restorethedelta.org

SACRAMENTO —  Governor Gavin Newsom has vetoed SB 872, a key water protection bill that would have dedicated funding to address two major threats to California’s water supply: aging levees in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and sinking canals in the State Water Project (SWP). The bill passed the Legislature unanimously. 

SB 872 was supported by more than 60 organizations and brought together Northern and Southern California legislators, environmental groups including Restore the Delta, and water interests around the need to protect critical water infrastructure and the state’s primary water source. 

In his veto message, Governor Newsom cited budget constraints and called the legislation “unnecessary”. The veto comes as the state considers other major, and significantly more expensive, water investments including the Fair Ranch deal, a voluntary agreement supported by Newsom that is expected to cost approximately $1 billion. 

Delta advocates are criticizing the veto, arguing that the decision leaves critical infrastructure vulnerable and fails to adequately prepare California’s water system for future challenges. They are also questioning the Governor’s priorities in water planning. 

“Not only did Governor Newsom veto a much needed bill to bring Delta levees to the necessary standards to deal with climate change, he vetoed funding for fixing existing conveyance for the State Water Project. Why? His never-ending quest for the Delta Conveyance Project. It is his white whale. And he has set California water infrastructure on a course for complete failure as a result of his wrongful quest,” said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director at Restore the Delta.

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This November, Napa residents have the opportunity to make the county a safer and more resilient community for all using their ballots! 

Measure B, the Napa County Wildfire Preparedness, Watershed Protection and Open Space Preservation Act of 2026, will provide a dedicated source of locally controlled funding to support actions to reduce wildfire risk, protect drinking water and local watersheds, and preserve open space for generations to come.

Measure B would establish a one-half of one percent (½% or 0.005) sales tax on the sale and use of tangible personal property within Napa County (groceries, medicine, diapers, and feminine hygiene products will be exempt), which would raise an estimated $23 million annually. 100% of the funds generated from Measure B are required by state law to stay in Napa County, meaning that ALL funds will go to improving the lives and safety of all Napans, and are earmarked to be used for wildfire preparedness, watershed protection, and open space preservation. 

Why It Matters

As extreme weather events are increasingly impacting lives in our region, and state and federal funds continue to shift, it is more important than ever for Napa County to establish locally controlled funding to protect the things that residents care about: protecting communities from fire, increasing access to safe drinking water, and preserving open space. Measure B would specifically support the development of fire-safe evacuation routes, preserve watersheds and reservoirs, protect native species, and ensure long-term access to parks. 

Vote YES on Measure B to reduce catastrophic wildfire risk, protect drinking water, and preserve Napa’s open spaces and parks.

The post Vote Yes on Measure B To Fund Wildfire Preparedness in Napa appeared first on Greenbelt Alliance.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced today that it is gutting fuel-economy standards for cars, SUVs, and pickup trucks, an inconceivable decision given the purpose of the federal fuel economy program – to reduce gasoline consumption – and the skyrocketing prices at the pump Americans are already struggling to pay.

The final rule weakens existing Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, lowering the expected fleetwide average to just 34.9 miles per gallon by 2031 – below what automakers on average have already achieved. In its proposal, NHTSA predicted that its changes would force the average driver to pay $1,400 more in fuel costs over the lifetime of their vehicle.

The following is a comment from Atid Kimelman, an attorney at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council):

“With Americans struggling to afford gasoline that is more than $4 a gallon, the Trump administration is going to force them to pay more at the pump. Oil companies will get a windfall from gutting the fuel economy standards, but the rest of us are going to be handing over more of our hard-earned paychecks to fill up the tank.

“This is a harsh blow to American families struggling to afford rising energy costs. It will raise drivers’ costs while also worsening air pollution across the country following a scorching summer marred by devastating storms and wildfires.

“Congress established fuel economy standards five decades ago after Middle East unrest led to a spike in oil prices. But with the war with Iran driving up oil prices, the Trump administration is doing all it can to keep us dependent on gas guzzlers. In fact, most automakers would not need to make any fuel-economy improvements over the next five years to meet these new standards.

“This rollback is not only bad policy; it also violates the law. Stay tuned.”

Background

Over the past five decades, fuel economy standards have been one of the most significant actions the United States has taken to reduce its reliance on oil and save drivers money at the pump. A bipartisan Congress first established CAFE standards in 1975 in the wake of the OPEC Oil Embargo a few years earlier. As a result of federal clean car and fuel economy standards, vehicles in the United States today use less gas and create less pollution than they used to. Since enacted, fuel economy improvements have saved more than two trillion gallons of gasoline, enough to run every car and light truck in the U.S. for more than 15 years. They have also saved drivers a combined $5 trillion in fuel costs and avoided 14 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions, a Princeton University study concluded.

NHTSA’s 2024 fuel economy standards were forecast to raise the average vehicle’s fuel efficiency to 50.4 miles per gallon, saving Americans $23 billion in fuel costs. Those standards are being repealed in this action by the Trump administration today, and a new average goal of just 34.9 miles-per-gallon set.

Instead of following its statutory mandate to set vehicle fuel-economy standards at “maximum feasible levels” to reduce fuel consumption, with these new standards NHTSA set goals below what vehicle fleets on the road today already achieve.

Earlier today, the federal government under President Donald Trump finalized a rollback of fuel economy standards for passenger cars and trucks. By doing so, the administration effectively eliminated the nation’s Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, which have improved vehicle efficiency and saved families about $321 billion at the gas pump since the modern CAFE program was implemented in 2010.

Below is a statement by Dr. Dave Cooke, senior vehicles analyst for the Union of Concerned Scientist’s (UCS) Clean Transportation Program.

“The federal government’s decision to gut fuel economy standards is a handout to automakers and oil companies that will strap American consumers already struggling with an affordability crisis. According to UCS analysis, CAFE standards have saved consumers over $32 billion since the Iran War began and sent gas prices skyrocketing. Weakening these standards means drivers will spend more on fuel while having fewer options to choose efficient vehicles.

“The administration claims this rollback will save consumers money, but even the government’s own analysis shows the opposite: consumers will spend more over the lifetime of their vehicles. Any small reduction in upfront vehicle costs will be outweighed by higher fuel expenses.

“This rollback doesn't just stall progress—it moves the nation backward. For example, the administration’s 2031 standards are weaker than what the new vehicle fleet had already achieved in 2024. This industry giveaway is a raw deal for drivers, who deserve vehicles that cost less to operate and give them more choices—not a policy that forces them to spend more at the pump.”

President Trump’s Department of Transportation today finalized a rule gutting Corporate Average Fuel Economy, or CAFE, standards, which conserve billions of gallons of gas and save consumers billions at the pump.

Trump’s action is illegal because the law requires that the fuel economy standards be set at the “maximum feasible” level. The final rule ignores the feasibility of clean technology and the millions of fuel-efficient cars already on the road.

“Trump is tanking sensible mileage standards at the worst possible time for consumers, who’re getting hit with sky-high prices at the pump,” said Dan Becker, director of the Center for Biological Diversity’s Safe Climate Transport Campaign. “Consumers will pay the price for these reckless rollbacks while Trump’s Big Oil and Big Auto buddies reap the short-term profits. This move spells short- and long-term disaster for people’s health, the planet, and even U.S. automakers who’ll sit on the sidelines while clean cars advance around the world. This standard was the biggest single step any nation has taken to save gas, money at the pump, and auto pollution.”

The fuel economy rule would have saved 64 billion gallons of gas. Even before the current rise in gas prices, it was set to deliver $35 billion in savings to consumers over the lifetimes of the vehicles covered. To do this, it would have required automakers to add gas-saving technology so new cars averaged 50.4 miles per gallon by model year 2031. The Trump rule will result in cars averaging a mere 34.9 mpg in 2031.

The standards also would have slashed pollution that harms Americans’ health and worsens the climate crisis. Transportation makes up the biggest share of climate-heating pollution from the United States, the world’s second biggest carbon polluter.

Gutting the fuel economy standards will allow automakers to make vehicles that guzzle more gas and pollute more, costing consumers at the pump and at the doctor’s office.

“Trump’s creating a perfect storm to crush competitiveness of domestic car companies, drive up consumer costs and kill the climate,” said Becker. “There’s nothing Trump won’t sacrifice on the altar of fealty to Big Oil and auto polluters, whether it’s our health or our wallets. Trump’s rollbacks are speeding us toward a sicker, poorer America. Major carmakers asked Trump to give them this Trojan SUV that could spell their doom since they won’t have to compete against the best auto technology in the world.”

CAFE standards are important because the United States is the world’s biggest oil guzzler, consuming 20 million barrels (840 million gallons) per day — 20% of the world’s oil use. Transportation is the biggest consumer of that oil, making strong auto standards the most effective way to cut pollution and oil use.

By resetting standards back to 2022, the administration will allow automakers to build up credits for meeting or surpassing the standards for the last four years.

“Adding injury to insult, the administration is gutting standards for past as well as future years,” said Becker. “This will hobble a future administration in setting strong standards since carmakers will be able to evade them with the ‘get out of jail free’ credits collected under Trump.”

The post Gutting Fuel Economy Standards Will Raise Drivers’ Costs appeared first on ACEEE | American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.