Gearing Up: What Clean Cars Mean for Michigan’s Economy
"Gearing Up" found at least 20,000 jobs will be created by 2030 in Michigan as a direct result of vehicle fuel economy standards proposed by the Obama administration.
The Obama administration has proposed new performance standards for light-duty vehicles (cars and light trucks) that will require automakers to introduce increasingly fuel-efficient and lower-polluting cars. The new standard requires each carmaker to achieve an average fleet performance equivalent to 54.5 miles per gallon (mpg) for 2025, which will require an increase in fuel efficiency of about 4 percent annually.
The BlueGreen Alliance’s research report Gearing Up report estimates that the proposed standards will create approximately 570,000 jobs nationwide by 2030. The new standards will help U.S. consumers save billions of dollars at the pump, and consumers are expected to use these fuel savings to purchase new goods and services, boosting the U.S. economy and driving job creation.
In Michigan, our research suggests that new fuel economy standards will create 20,000 new jobs by 2030. This is similar to results found by a previous study, which estimated that an additional 22,600 jobs will be created in Michigan by 2030 as a result of the policy.