EPA releases another discouraging Automotive Trends Report
The Environmental Protection Agency just released its 2023 Automotive Trends Report, which describes its regulatory framework for light duty vehicles and the progress being made by the automotive industry. The report focuses heavily on tailpipe carbon dioxide and includes finalized U.S. data through 2022. As usual, there is little good news for folks concerned about climate change, with the same familiar consumer trends undermining the environmental benefits achieved through automotive innovation.
The EPA is responsible for CO2 abatement and always puts a positive spin on its annual automotive statistics. The estimated CO2 emission rate for all new light duty vehicles fell by 10 grams per mile (g/mi), ending at 337 g/mi. The modest year over year reduction corresponds to an average fuel economy increase of 0.6 MPG, and the EPA characterized the progress as “the largest single year improvement in CO2 emission rates and fuel economy in nine years.” The rate of improvement is considerably faster than the painfully slow progress achieved over the last two decades. According to the report, CO2 emissions from new U.
