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WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency announced Monday that it has strengthened limits on pollution from automobile tailpipes in an effort to reduce a major source of planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions.

The stricter rule – the most significant climate action ever taken by the Biden administration and the highest level ever set for fuel economy – will require passenger cars to travel an average of 55 miles per gallon of gasoline by 2026, which is just under 38 miles per hour. gallon today.

This will prevent the release of 3.1 billion tons of climate-warming carbon dioxide by 2050, according to the EPA. It will prevent approximately 360 billion gallons of gasoline from burning and lead to a 15 percent annual reduction in the nation’s gasoline consumption by 2050. According to the agency’s estimate, drivers will save about $1,080 in fuel costs over the lifetime of more efficient vehicles.

The Biden administration is expected to weigh in on administrative actions and regulations, such as the new tailpipe rule, after the far-reaching legislation that is at the center of the president’s climate agenda and will transform the energy and transportation industries was essentially overturned by Senator Joe Manchin on Sunday. III is the West Virginia Democrat who holds the ballot in an evenly divided Senate.

The tailpipe rule, which will come into effect 60 days after it is published in the Federal Register and will be valid for the 2023-2026 model years, is a kind of return to the regulations enacted by the Obama administration in 2012 and mandated by passenger cars sold by automakers. Average 51 miles per gallon by 2025. President Donald J. Trump lowered the standard in 2020 to about 44 miles per gallon by 2026.

“We follow the science, listen to stakeholders, and set firm and rigorous standards that will aggressively reduce pollution that harms people and our planet, while saving families money at the same time,” said Director Michael S. Regan. In a statement from the EPA,

Transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gases produced by the United States. 29 percent of the country’s total emissions.

A recent report by the International Energy Agency stated that countries will have to end sales of new gasoline-powered cars by 2035 to avoid rising average global temperatures. 1.5 Celsius compared to levels during the Industrial Revolution. This the threshold at which scientists say the Earth is facing irreversible damage. The planet has warmed an average of 1.1 degrees Celsius since the late 1800s.

Climate experts said the new tailpipe rule is the first step in Mr Biden’s effort to rapidly shift American drivers from cars and trucks powered by combustion engines to zero-emission electric vehicles of the last century.

Jeff Alson, a former EPA senior engineer and policy adviser who worked on Obama automobile emissions standards, said the new Biden rule was “basically just recapturing the emissions cuts we lost during the Trump comeback.” “That’s good, but it won’t get us anywhere near the level we need to get to reduce vehicle emissions enough to protect the planet.”

About $26 billion in tax incentives to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles remained in limbo on Capitol Hill, which is part of a larger $2.2 trillion bill facing opposition from Mr. Manchin. The bill’s provisions include a $7,500 tax credit for those who buy electric vehicles, as well as an additional $4,500 incentive if the vehicles are assembled by union employees.

Mr Biden aims for electric vehicles to account for 50 percent of all new car sales by 2030, to reduce planet-warming emissions and slow climate change. But electric cars are on track to collect just 4 percent of America’s sales in 2021, a clue to the scale of the challenge Mr. Biden is facing.

A significant step forward was taken last month when Congress passed a $1 trillion infrastructure bill that included $7.5 billion to build nearly 500,000 electric charging stations nationwide and $7.5 billion to help support the supply chains needed to manufacture electric vehicles. This month, Mr. Biden signed an executive order requiring the federal government to purchase only zero-emission cars and trucks by 2035.

But climate advocates say more is needed to meet Mr. Biden’s goal.

“The short-term rule that the president is now unveiling is not tied to the fight he calls himself that global warming is an existential threat,” said Dan Becker, director of the Center’s Campaign for Safe Climate Transport at the Center for Biodiversity. . “What we really need is an aggressive rule of thumb to phase out sparking and polluting petrol cars and replace them with electric cars without tailpipes.”

That’s why EPA officials are working on a future regulation for vehicles produced in 2027 and beyond that will force automakers to increase sales of electric vehicles. They say they hope to publish a draft in 2022 and complete it before the end of Mr Biden’s term.

Since exhaust emission rules relate to the average mileage per gallon of all vehicles sold by an automaker, strict standards are designed to force auto companies to sell more electric cars to offset sales of traditional pickup trucks, sport utility vehicles, and other models. kilometer. The Ford F-150, for example, is the most popular vehicle in the country and only travels about 20 miles per gallon.

Some major automakers have publicly pledged to invest in electric vehicles. GM says it will be all-electric by 2035. Ford announced a $30 billion investment in electrification and said it plans to sell electric-only vehicles by 2035 in leading markets such as the US, China and Europe, and globally by 2040. Ford produced an electric version of the F-150; dealers will start taking orders from January.

At the same time, automakers said they should seek help from the government to ensure that consumers can buy and charge their cars.

“The EPA’s final rule for greenhouse gas emissions is even more aggressive than originally proposed and requires a significant increase in electric vehicle sales, well over 4 percent of all light-duty sales today,” said John Bozella, president of the Automotive Innovation Alliance. A lobby group representing the world’s largest automobile companies. “Achieving the goals of this final rule will undoubtedly require the enactment of supportive government policies, including consumer incentives, significant infrastructure growth, fleet requirements, and support for U.S. manufacturing and supply chain development.”

General Motors on Monday issued a statement saying it “supports the goal of the final rule and its intention to significantly reduce emissions,” but is still reviewing the details. “We applaud the EPA’s efforts to strengthen greenhouse gas emissions standards and establish a coherent national plan,” Ford said. Stellantis, the company founded after the merger of Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot, described the new rule as “aggressive” and underlined that the government should support the transition to zero-emission vehicles.

Most Republicans, meanwhile, oppose the new tailpipe regulations. “Biden’s inflation and energy crisis is hurting families and creating record high costs,” Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the Republican nominee for the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said on Twitter on Monday. “Instead of helping families, it prioritizes radical environmentalists with strict regulations dictating the cars we buy and use.”

auto workers have voiced their concerns because the production of an electric vehicle requires approximately one-third less human labor than a vehicle powered by an internal combustion engine. Mr. Biden has sought to win them over with policies such as proposed tax credits that will reward buyers for purchasing union-made electric vehicles.

On Monday, Ray Curry, president of United Auto Workers, hailed the standards as “well thought through” and added, “history has shown that strong standards at the table, based on input from stakeholders, including American workers, can be an opportunity for both job retention, job creation and the environment.” protection.”

Lisa Friedman contributed to this report.