Trump Administration Plans To Ditch Obama-Era Fuel Economy Standards

The Environmental Protection Agency announced Wednesday that it will be reviewing Obama-era fuel economy standards aimed at reducing American use of fossil fuels, and many of the environmental safeguards are expected to be reversed.

Both the EPA and the Department of Transportation put out a statement Wednesday announcing the plan, and President Trump touted it in his speech in Detroit.

"Today's decision by the EPA is a win for the American economy," said Elaine Chao, secretary of Transportation.

Under the previous administration, the EPA had issued a rule requiring automakers to only make cars with a fuel economy of 54.5 miles per gallon of gasoline by 2025. Proponents of these rules argue that they force the auto industry to better account for the impact of emissions on the public and the environment, while critics argue that such rules hurt the industry, consumers and auto workers.

"These standards are costly for automakers and the American people," said EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt in a statement. Before being appointed to head up the agency, Pruitt was a long-time critic of the EPA.

According to a White House statement, "The EPA estimated it would cost $200 billion to comply with CAFE-GHG standards from 2012-2025."

"We’re going to make the process much more simple for auto companies, and everyone else who wants to do business in the United States," the president said in his speech.

Democratic lawmakers pushed back against the move.

"This is another giant step backward in President Trump’s race to the bottom, environmentally and economically," Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, said in a statement. "The current standards would have saved consumers and businesses billions of dollars in fuel costs at the pump, and this is especially important in rural states like Vermont, where we are so dependent on our cars. And all of these savings, while also leaving the air that we breathe that much cleaner and clearer."

"Federal fuel economy standards are essential in driving the development of technologies that lower fuel use, reduce vehicle emissions, and save consumers money at the gas pump," said Mark Tercek, CEO of The Nature Conservancy, a non-profit conservation organization. "As the Trump Administration takes up the task of revisiting these standards, our hope is that they will involve a broad range of stakeholders, and put clean air and healthy people at the top of the priority list."

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