Court orders redo of higher
truck fuel economy standards
By Harry Stoffer, Automotive News, Nov. 15

WASHINGTON -- A federal appeals court panel today overturned government fuel economy standards for light trucks in the 2008-11 model years.

The three-judge 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel in California ruled that the standards didn’t properly assess the risk vehicles pose to the environment.

The standards were considered innovative in that they set different fuel economy targets for vehicles of different sizes.

Overall, automakers were to improve light-truck fuel economy from 22.2 mpg in 2007 to about 24 mpg by 2011.

But in the lawsuit, some states and environmental groups that want tougher standards said the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration failed to account for the threat of carbon dioxide emissions in doing cost-benefit analyses.

CO2, a byproduct of burning fuel, is considered to be the most prevalent greenhouse gas, contributing to global warming.

The panel ordered NHTSA to write new rules "as expeditiously as possible and for the earliest model year practicable."

It was not immediately clear if NHTSA would appeal the ruling.