A cement truck drives north along the south bound lane of I-95. | Getty | Getty Obama tightens fuel efficiency rules for trucks

The administration issued new rules today requiring trucks and buses to sharply improve their fuel economy, the last in a series of climate change regulations for vehicles pushed by President Barack Obama to reduce fuel consumption and curb greenhouse gas pollution.

But the new rules won't take effect immediately, making it possible for Donald Trump to roll them back if he wins the presidency. Truck makers have been split on the measures, but least some portions of the rules are likely to face legal challenges.


The new regulation represents the second wave of tighter fuel economy rules for trucks from the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that the White House estimates show when combined with earlier measures will save U.S. businesses and drivers more than $1.9 trillion in energy costs and cut oil consumption by 8.1 billion barrels over the vehicles' lifetimes.

The rules apply freight-hauling tractor-trailers, along with workhorse vehicles like garbage trucks and buses and the biggest classes of pickup trucks. Today’s rules apply to vehicles for the model years 2019 through 2027.

Along with the previously enacted standards for passenger cars and smaller trucks, the new vehicle standards represent a major portion of Obama’s efforts to combat climate change. According to EPA, the combined efficiencies from the Obama vehicle rules would eliminate carbon dioxide equal the amount emitted by cars traveling 17.7 trillion miles, or running 2,145 coal plants for one year.

“The shift during this past administration has been enormous in terms of the benefits to reducing climate emissions and reducing oil consumption,” said Don Anair, the research and deputy director of the Union of Concerned Scientists' clean vehicles program.