Image by Olavi Anttila from Pixabay
December 3, 2025 - SACRAMENTO — California Governor Gavin Newsom today issued the following statement in response to President Trump’s announcement proposing weaker fuel economy standards, higher costs for consumers, and dirtier air for communities to breathe:
Yesterday, President Trump called affordability a ‘Con Job’ from the White House. Today, he proved he meant it by proposing to gut fuel economy standards that will force Americans to spend billions more at the pump while poisoning the air in our communities.
Let’s call it what it is: Donald is handing his Big Oil donors exactly what they want: weaker protections for consumers and bigger profits for polluters. At a moment when Trump’s policies are destroying jobs—32,000 private sector jobs and 120,000 small business jobs cut in November alone—while working families drown in his failed tariff costs, this is cruelty disguised as policy. California will defend fuel economy standards that protect families’ budgets, our children’s lungs, and our future.
Governor Gavin Newsom
The real cost of Trump’s proposed rollback
Fuel economy standards mean drivers can go farther on each gallon of gas, leading to fewer trips to the pump and significant savings over the course of a month. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates the fuel economy standards Trump is gutting would have saved American drivers $23 billion in fuel costs and reduced our national fuel consumption by 70 billion gallons. Over the past 15 years, fuel economy improvements have delivered an average household savings of $630-840 annually. Over the past two decades, fuel efficiency improvements, driven by standards, have put more than $9,000 back in consumers’ pockets over the lifetime of the average new car sold in the U.S. in 2024.
While the Trump administration continues to do Big Oil’s bidding, Americans overwhelmingly support fuel economy standards. Ninety-six percent of American drivers say fuel economy is at least somewhat important when considering a vehicle purchase or lease, and 66% say it is very important or extremely important. That’s no surprise. The American people know that weakening fuel efficiency standards threatens decades of bipartisan progress in reducing air pollution and protecting public health.
California’s climate leadership
Pollution is down and the economy is up. Greenhouse gas emissions in California are down 21% since 2000 — even as the state’s GDP increased 81% in that same time period, all while becoming the world’s fourth largest economy.
California also continues to set clean energy records. In 2023, the state was powered by two-thirds clean energy, the largest economy in the world to achieve this level. California has also run on 100% clean electricity for part of the day almost every day this year.
Since the beginning of the Newsom Administration, battery storage has surged to nearly 17,000 megawatts — a 2,100%+ increase, and over 30,000 megawatts of new resources have been added to the electric grid. California now has 33% of the storage capacity estimated to be needed by 2045 to reach 100% clean electricity.
Source: Office of the Governor
