Gov. Lujan Grisham has stated that New Mexico automobiles will be required to average 52 miles per gallon (all vehicles sold, not necessarily each vehicle) by 2022. She wants to be in line with her “progressive” buddies over in California who are suing the Trump Administration for stopping the Obama-era fuel economy increase at 37 MPG.
For starters, is this even legal? Since when can a Governor just arbitrarily impose such ambitious regulations on what kind of cars can be sold in the State?
As an illustration of where fuel economy stands right now, this article from early 2018 states that fuel economy is 24.7MPG, a record.” The Governor plans to force auto makers and dealers to more than double efficiency within just three years?
The Gov. used ozone “non-attainment” as a justification for her move, but just a few weeks ago we noted that ozone levels for the region including New Mexico had dropped by 6 percent since 2000 (despite growing population and oil/gas production). Stricter regulations were imposed by the Obama Administration, but this hardly points to ozone as a serious problem requiring a rapid shift to 52MPG vehicles.
This proposal WILL cost New Mexico motorists thousands of dollars per new vehicle purchased (approximately $6,800 per vehicle).
To paraphrase Barack Obama’s lie on ObamaCare, Lujan Grisham is saying “If you like your pickup, you can keep your pickup.”
