In the fine print
Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), ranking member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, called the new figure a “fudge factor” that the agencies whipped up in “a desperate, last-ditch effort to make the rule seem like it provided benefits to society.”
The final rule released this week defines the implicit opportunity cost as foregone benefits to consumers who would have bought a new car regardless of the fuel economy standards. In a statement to POLITICO, NHTSA said that implicit opportunity costs had been used in previous rulemakings during the Obama administration. Although it was one of dozens of analyses the agency considered in formulating the fuel efficiency rule, it said it had not been part of the “central analysis” and so could not have been used to “cook the books.”