Comprehensive Look at US Fuel Economy Standards Show Big Savings on Fuel and Emissions

In one of the first comprehensive assessments of the fuel economy standards in the United States, Princeton University researchers found that, over their 40-year history, the standards helped reduce reliance on foreign oil producers, cut greenhouse gas emissions, and saved consumers money.

Using data including household spending data, oil use, and greenhouse gas emissions, the researchers found that the standards (known as the CAFE standards), which were first enacted in 1975 as a way to reduce dependence on foreign oil after the oil crisis, set well-defined societal objectives and were cost-effective, fair, durable and adaptive. The standards required automakers to produce more efficient vehicles over time, increasing the number of miles per gallon required of their vehicle fleets. The researchers cite that the standards saved $5 trillion in fuel costs and prevented 14 billion metric tons of carbon from being released into the atmosphere, the equivalent of the United States eliminating its emissions from all sectors for nearly three years.

“It has been one of the most effective policies to date,” said Judi Greenwald, a co-author of the study, former top U.S. Department of Energy official and non-resident fellow at the Princeton University’s Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment.

Read more at: Princeton University, Engineering School

The graph shows vehicle miles traveled versus fuel consumption from 1965 through 2018 in the United States. While travel increased significantly during that time, fuel use dropped due, in large part, to the fuel economy standards and the fuel efficiency technologies that were developed and implemented to meet the standards. (Photo Credit: Graph courtesy of the researchers (Rebecca Ciez); Redesign by Bumper DeJesus)