Easing fuel-economy standards
Trump advisers have suggested he’d consider lowering fuel-economy standards. Trump may have been referring to this during the meeting with the auto CEOs, when he said environmental regulations are “out of control.” Supporters of the current rules are certainly worried Trump will undo Obama’s work. “Trump’s EPA will be looking for ways to lower the standards,” says Timmons Roberts, a professor of environmental studies at Brown University.
In 2012, Obama pushed through new rules that would raise average fuel economy for all cars sold to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. That was a huge increase, and automakers played nice only because Obama promised that the government would review the whole regimen in 2018. If the new technology needed to meet those standards didn’t materialize by then, or was too expensive, the number could be lowered, or other terms adjusted.
The Obama administration decided to speed up that mid-point review, completing it last November in an obvious effort to lock in the Obama standards before Trump took office. Auto executives expecting to contribute to the review felt ignored by regulators at the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Transportation. “They basically just gave us the finger,” one auto exec said privately at the Detroit auto show in early January.The question isn’t really whether automakers can meet the strict new standards. They probably can, with a combination of better internal-combustion technology and alternative-energy vehicles such as electrics. But new technology is expensive, and consumers aren’t always willing to pay for it through higher prices. Most automakers are working on electric vehicles, for instance, but they probably wouldn’t be if not for the credits they get toward fuel economy and government rebates that make the cars cheaper. The market alone generally doesn’t support the investment.
Trump is obviously sympathetic to corporate complaints of federal overreach, and he has promised to slash many federal regulations so businesses can operate with a freer hand. It won’t be easy to change the Obama fuel-economy standards, and legal challenges by environmental groups could tie up any attempted changes for years. But litigation doesn’t faze Trump, and he could plausibly tell the automakers he did his share, and dealing with the courts is their problem.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/why-trump-could-lower-mpg-standards-201915207.html
