Donald Trump has started the procedure of rolling back carbon pollution standards for automobiles following a conference with automakers in Detroit, Michigan.
Trump has directed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to review fuel performance standards that were an essential plank of Barack Obama’s effort to decrease greenhouse gas emissions. The relocation is a victory for automakers who have declared the standards are too difficult and out of step with Americans’ vehicle purchasing habits.
“These standards are costly for automakers and the American people,” stated the EPA administrator, Scott Pruitt.
“We will deal with our partners at the department of transport to take a fresh look to determine if this method is sensible. This thorough review will help guarantee that this nationwide program benefits consumers and good for the environment.”
In an agreement struck with car manufacturers in 2012, the Obama administration required that vehicles run 54.4 miles per gallon of fuel by 2025. This requirement, up from 27.5 miles per gallon, would decrease greenhouse gas emissions by 6bn loads over the lifetime of new vehicles and save 2m gallons of oil every day by 2025.
During the last month of Obama’s presidency, the EPA verified in a midterm evaluation that car manufacturers are “well positioned” to meet the new standard. Trump is ordering an evaluation of this finding, breaking the ice for a standard to be drawn up. The White House said the new review will depend on the best available information, which the “previous administration ignored.”
A White House official stated the automakers feel the EPA “shoved it down their throats” and that the standards had to be redone.
“The process was very short-circuited,” stated the Trump official, who spoke anonymously before the president’s announcement. He also said that there was a great deal of data that was submitted, and he believe it is reasonable to state the Obama EPA just ignored it.
Trump unveiled the evaluation at an occasion in Detroit where he met with executives from companies such as General Motors, Ford and Fiat. The president stated he was going to “bring a lot of jobs back to Michigan and Ohio and Pennsylvania”.
