Columbus, OH – On Tuesday, The Buckeye Institute filed an amicus brief in a consolidation of eight cases—In Re: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Department of Transportation, Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standard—before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. In its brief, Buckeye calls on the court to stop the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) from forcing a de facto electric-vehicle mandate on the American people, a mandate Congress did not give NHTSA the power to impose.

“Just as they have done with the Clean Air Act, the Biden administration is attempting to expand the powers of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to impose a de facto electric-vehicle mandate on American businesses,” said David C. Tryon, director of litigation at The Buckeye Institute. “Congress simply did not give NHTSA the power to force this illegal bureaucratic boondoggle on people who rely on heavy-duty trucks and vans.” 

As it did in its amicus briefs in Texas v. U.S. EPA and Kentucky v. U.S. EPA, The Buckeye Institute argues that the cost-benefit analysis NHTSA used in setting fuel economy standards for heavy-duty pickups and vans is deeply flawed and improperly relies on unproven and unauthorized methods to justify the rule’s extraordinary costs. 

Tryon continued, “NHTSA ignored key facts and issues to justify a regulatory scheme that American consumers do not want and which Congress did not authorize.”

The Buckeye Institute grounded its argument on four facts:

1. In its rule-making process, NHTSA erroneously assumed that low demand for electric vehicles was due to a “market failure” or an “energy paradox.” 
2. NHTSA ignored the well-established presumption that Congressional statutes are concerned with domestic application and improperly included global benefits in its analysis.
3. NHTSA’s analysis relied on unscientific speculation of the final rule’s impact over 30 years, well beyond the time frame courts accept. 
4. NHTSA ignored many reasons Americans do not want electric vehicles, including concerns about performance, range, and charging capabilities.

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