Trump puts brakes on vehicle emission targets

It also aims to get an agreement between the industry and the government regarding the implementation of the standards back on track, the official said.

Sources have told Bloomberg that Trump will meet with automotive executives Wednesday and is likely toannounce a reconsideration of the EPA’s fuel economy standards. However, unless the Trump administration succeeds in doing that, it’s likely that California will adopt the current EPA standards and vehicle companies will follow along even if Trump trashes the federal rules.

“We need to put clean auto standards in the fast lane to keep our air clean and our climate safe”, Michael Brune, Sierra Club executive director, said in a statement.

But the Republican president will not seek to revoke California’s authority to set vehicle efficiency rules even stricter than federal rules as part of this move, a White House official said.

“Were going to work on the CAFE standards so you can make cars in America again”, he told a cheering crowd of auto industry workers.

“Everyone involved needs certainty – from automakers building more fuel-efficient vehicles to the companies developing infrastructure to support them”, she said.

EPA released a massive technical report past year that found automakers could continue to meet and exceed the standards with conventional internal combustion engine vehicles.

Trump’s announcement doesn’t guarantee the rollback of the Obama standards but opens the door for the request for review from carmakers.

The Clean Power Plan was an Obama-era initiative that compelled USA states to cut down their carbon dioxide emissions. But a week before Obama left office, then-EPA head Gina McCarthy chose to keep the stringent requirements it had set in place for model years 2022-2025. In his remarks, the president said he will revive a mid-term review process that had been scheduled for the coming regulations.

In 2011, the auto industry agreed to boost the average fuel economy of their vehicles to over 50 miles per gallon by 2025, but their deal with the Obama administration included a 2018 review to reexamine that goal’s feasibility for the 2022 to 2025 model years. The administration’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimated that by 2025 the new auto fleet would have to achieve an average of 48.7-49.7 miles per gallon. The Los Angeles Times sees the possibility of a “legal brawl” between the state and the White House over the standards.

“Trump campaigned on a promise to cut corporate lobbying, but today’s announcement unmasks another empty promise to American voters”.