In an extensive 90 page opinion relying heavily on analysis by Environmental Defense, the federal court of appeals in San Francisco today rejected the Bush administration's fuel economy standards for light trucks in the 2008-11 model years.
The court determined that the Department of Transportation had set fuel efficiency standards too low to meet America's pressing energy needs or the risks that greenhouse gas emissions pose to the environment. The court also ruled that higher fuel economy standards could be achieved through today's technologies.
The standards were challenged by 11 states and a coalition of environmental organizations including Environmental Defense, Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Center for Biological Diversity.
"The court's decision underscores the failure of the Bush administration to address the global warming crisis and energy security," said Environmental Defense counsel Sean Donahue who argued the case for the environmental petitioners. "There are cost-effective solutions to save millions of Americans hard-earned money at the gas pump and curb global warming pollution," said Donahue.
In a sharp rebuke to the Department of Transportation for its failure to carry out the law (the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975), the court stated: "The need of the nation to conserve energy is even more pressing today than it was at the time of [the statute's] enactment."
Among other flaws, the court found the Department of Transportation:
1. Failed to account for the value of reducing heat-trapping carbon dioxide emissions in setting the meager standards,
2. Failed to close the SUV loophole,
3. Failed to set fuel economy standards for all vehicles in the 8,500 to 10,000 pound gross vehicle weight class, and
4. Failed to carry out an adequate environmental assessment including analysis of global warming pollution impacts under the National Environmental Policy Act.
The fuel economy standards will continue in effect under the court's ruling but the court ordered the Department of Transportation "to promulgate new standards consistent with this opinion as expeditiously as possible and for the earliest model year practicable."
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