President Donald Trump is preparing to scrap an Obama-era rule that would have dramatically ratcheted up fuel efficiency rules over the course of a decade, The Washington Post reported Friday.
The plan would also target California’s ability to set its own vehicle efficiency standards, according to WaPo. The state’s high standards have forced automakers to build more fuel-efficient vehicles, which ultimately effects national efficiency standards.
Former President Barack Obama aimed to raise the average fuel economy of automobiles to more than 50 miles per gallon within 10 years. The Golden State got permissions from the Obama administration to issue its own, higher emissions standards.
They require cars get 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. The rules would cut 540 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions and save consumers money, officials estimated.
Automakers missed fuel efficiency targets for 2016 model cars and light trucks by about nine grams per mile. Cars would not meet the 2025 target, only getting between 50 and 52.6 miles per gallon by that point, Obama’s own EPA found.
Conservatives urged EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to repeal California’s waiver, arguing the state can use its influence over automakers to supplant federal standards. He criticized the policy in the past.
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