President announces a rollback of the federal fuel-economy standard from 50.4 mpg to 34.5 mpg and calls the new initiative 'Freedom Means Affordable Cars.'

The Department of Transportation announced on Wednesday a reset of the federal fuel-economy standard. The standard, set under the prior administration, was scheduled to require an industry-fleet-wide average of 50.4 miles per gallon by the 2031 model year. The new standard, as proposed, will require 34.5 miles per gallon by the 2031 model year.

Hon. Read the numbers a second time. Fifty-point-four down to thirty-four-point-five. That is a 32 percent reduction in the target. The target is the gas mileage your car would average. Lower target, lower gas mileage, more gas you buy. The administration, by way of the Secretary of Transportation, called the initiative Freedom Means Affordable Cars. I am not embellishing. That is the press release.

The argument: the new rules will save the average buyer $1,000 on the sticker. The argument hides the part where the same buyer will spend more on gas, every month, for the life of the car. The Department’s own analyses in past years have priced that gap. The gap, over a typical ownership period, exceeds the sticker savings. The Department, this week, did not run that math in public.

The other thing in the rule. The rule reclassifies crossovers as cars. Crossovers, which are essentially small SUVs, were classified as light trucks under the prior rule. The reclassification matters because trucks have a lower mileage target than cars. Now they are cars. So the truck fleet looks more efficient on paper. So the car fleet target is the one we lowered. The math, on paper, looks better than the math on the road. The math on the road is what you pay for at the pump.

The big-three CEOs were in the room. The Ford CEO praised “the President’s leadership in aligning fuel economy standards with market realities.” Translated from press release: we wanted this and now we have it.

I have been a waitress for thirty years. When a regular tells me his diet is going great because he stopped weighing himself, I do not argue with him. I just bring him the pie.

The new label, on the new car, will say Freedom. The bill, at the gas station, will say thirty-eight dollars. That ought to concern you.