The US Is Ditching Its 'Too Tough' New Car Efficiency Targets
The United States Environmental Protection Agency is binning targets to decrease emissions and increase fuel economy by 2025, in a move that’s bad for urban pollution levels but good for car makers.
The Obama administration had worked hard to implement a national emissions target of 54.4 US mpg (65.3 UK mpg) by 2025. The rules meant that car makers’ model range average fuel economy would have to equal or better that – under threat of heavy fines.
Removing the targets had been threatened, and now the controversial move has been confirmed.
The move meant that a very quick shift to hybridisation and electric cars would have been necessary in the relatively diesel-shy US, and car makers argued it simply wasn’t enough time to develop and perfect new models at prices consumers could afford.
In a ruling that he then tweeted, EPA boss Scott Pruitt said that the Obama-era decision was wrong, saying that the targets will be revised but that the current bullseye will be scrapped.
Naturally, not everyone is happy about this. California is threatening to go it alone with ultra-strict emissions rules, risking a head-on collision with the federal authorities. And anyway, if the current administration is voted out at the next election, the rules might change yet again…
Comments
Like does the Trump administration even think before they do anything? I swear to god all that orange peel is doing is undoing everything that Barack accomplished during his time in office.
I agree. By 2020 all he’ll have done is made years 2008-2016 mostly pointless for the US.
Meanwhile…
yawns
Look at the comments. A bunch of political nonsense.
Unfortunately so. I thought Gen Z (let’s face it, even though CT claims to be for millenials, most people on this site are way younger) were supposed to save the day. Apparently not.
Politics is a major influence in tech put into cars, including pollution, and safety. Do you really expect to just talk about the cars and completely ignore the factors that change those cars? If your answer is yes, you are either too young to talk about anything outside GTR is best car on the planet period or just too ignorant.
Indeed, not to mention most of the issue with pollution has been going on for years with not much change.
Like I’m a car guy, specifically a truck and diesel guy, but updating emission standards is progress and moving forward to a better future for humanity as a whole. Ted Lieu is right, this move is taking the US backwards.
Thank you. Even car guys need an environmental conscience, things are only getting worse. I will daily a hybrid or electric car in the future I’m sure, but on the weekends I’ll take my Beemer for a blast. Trump has no foresight… imposing tariffs on China will on get tariffs back, and so on. In all seriousness, he’s accomplished nothing except for poking at the nerves of a certain group of bad people and bringing them back out of the shadows.
Another day, another disappointment. That’s like making it legal to beat your wife in order to combat rising domestic violence reports.
Trump is doing such an awesome job as president!
More v8 M8
Go race an electric car…..saving the planet with instant torque is the future.
👻Boo this ruling
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YES.