Trump administration wants to freeze gas-mileage standards, reversing Obama

Todd Spangler and Nathan Bomey | Detroit Free Press and USA TODAY

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WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Thursday recommended freezing mile-per-gallon standards for cars and light trucks after the 2020 model year, saying it will keep prices lower for consumers and improve safety.

The administration also took aim at California's more stringent emissions standards, which the federal government historically allowed under a special exemption. California is challenging the move in court.

Advocates for the environment immediately blasted the widely expected proposal as harmful, contending that more fuel-efficient vehicles are needed to combat the effects of climate change.

Automakers supported the move, arguing that the costs of achieving the Obama administration's gas-mileage regulations would raise vehicle prices and hurt their business. They also have long bemoaned the fact that California's higher standards requires them to make special exceptions for the nation's largest auto market.

The Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Transportation said their "preferred alternative" is to freeze fuel economy standards at 2020 levels.

They left open the possibility of selecting another option entirely — including increasing mile-per-gallon standards by some level between 2021 and 2026 — at the end of a public comment period to last 60 days. The agencies said they expect to issue a final decision this winter.

But the Trump administration made it clear that it believes the Obama administration's 2012 decision to implement aggressive fuel economy regulations hasn't aged well.

"It was assumed gasoline would be a lot more expensive today than it is and even though gasoline prices have gone up a little bit recently, they’re still at historically low levels," EPA assistant administrator Bill Wehrum told reporters. "That changes driving habits, that changes the kinds of cars and trucks that people want to buy, that changes what is possible in terms of vehicle fuel efficiency."

Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said in a statement that the administration's proposal to freeze m.p.g. standards after 2020 strikes "the right regulatory balance" between cost, safety and environmental concerns.

NHTSA said the change would prevent vehicles from increasing by an average of about $2,340.

"The unrealistic goals set in 2012 have to change to reflect the information available to us now," NHTSA deputy administrator Heidi King told reporters.

But environmental advocates and other supporters of the Obama fuel economy standards assailed the proposal, saying that fuel economy improvements save drivers on gas and criticizing the conclusion that lives would be saved.

The agency's argument is that lower vehicle prices allow consumers to buy newer vehicles with better technology that will save lives on the road.

That's "laughable," said Robert Weissman, president of watchdog group Public Citizen, in a statement. "That claim gives fig leaves a bad name."

Weissman said the "the Trump administration’s rollback of clean car standards is a disastrous wreck for consumers and the planet" and said it will force Americans "to pay more at the pump and breathe dirtier air."

Advocates for action on climate change said the Obama administration's last-second move to make the fuel economy standards permanent was necessary.

“How can we justify rolling back the most effective tool we have to fix global warming?" asked Rob Sargent, energy program director for Environment America. "This latest move by the Trump administration means that our cars will continue to pump billions of metric tons of carbon pollution into the atmosphere, further destabilizing the climate and sparking increasingly severe impacts of global warming."

While the administration's proposal increases the likelihood that fuel standards will be frozen after 2020, the final decision — as well as the outcome for consumers — may ultimately depend on whether a compromise can be reached between auto manufacturers, the administration and a group of more than a dozen states led by California that have long insisted on their ability to set tougher standards for cars and light trucks, or the outcome of court cases against the administration.

California and the other states have already filed a lawsuit trying to stop the Trump administration in its attempt to revisit the standards put in place through an agreement with the Obama’s administration in 2012 that called for the average m.p.g. standard across the U.S. fleet of cars to hit 34.5 in model-year 2016 and then increase to 54.5 by 2025.

By the 2020 model year, the target for cars will be 41.7 m.p.g., and for light trucks 31.3 m.p.g. Automakers had argued that during a “mid-term review” completed by the Obama administration before he left office that the out-year targets should have been revisited with low-fuel prices changing American buying habits. Trump's then-EPA administrator, Scott Pruitt, announced in April just such a move to take another look at the standards.

Automakers have made it clear that while they wanted more flexibility in meeting fuel economy targets, they also recognized that a sizable portion of the public expected fuel efficiency to keep rising and that any standards should take that into account while also allowing them more room to sell larger, less fuel-efficient SUVs, cars and trucks U.S. consumers are demanding in showrooms.

Two trade groups — the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and Global Automakers, which together represent General Motors, Ford, Fiat Chrysler, Toyota, Kia and other major domestic and international automakers — said they supported the process outlined Thursday. They said they expected it would “ensure fuel economy standards are based on the best available data and reflect marketplace realities.”

“We applaud the president and the administration for releasing this much anticipated proposal that includes a variety of standards for public consideration,” their joint statement said. “Automakers support continued improvements in fuel economy and flexibilities that incentivize advanced technologies while balancing priorities like affordability, safety, jobs and the environment.”

Automakers and the administration continued, meanwhile, to argue against any plan that allowed multiple states led by California to set their own standards — which they are certain to continue to press for in court if they don't like the final decision reached by the Trump administration. Wheeler said the process is intended "to establish a new 50-state fuel economy and tailpipe carbon dioxide emissions standard for passenger cars and light trucks covering MY 2021 through 2026."

Follow Detroit Free Press reporter Todd Spangler on Twitter at @tsspangler.

