Trump Admin Drafts Plan To Unravel Obama-Era Fuel-Efficiency Rules

"The Trump administration has drafted a proposal that would freeze fuel-efficiency standards for automobiles starting in 2021 and challenge California’s ability to set its own fuel-efficiency rules, changes that would hobble one of the Obama administration’s most significant initiatives to curb climate change.

The draft document, while not final, suggests the Trump administration is poised to make significant changes to planned auto standards over the next decade. A federal official who has reviewed the document described it in detail to The Washington Post.

Drafted in large part by the Transportation Department’s National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA), the plan outlines a preferred alternative in which the federal government would freeze fuel-efficiency standards for cars and light trucks at levels now set for model year 2021, keeping them there through 2026."

Chris Mooney, Dino Grandoni, and Juliet Eilperin report for the Washington Post April 27, 2018.

SEE ALSO:

"U.S. Likely To Back Freezing Fuel Economy Standards From 2020-26: Sources" (Reuters)

"E.P.A. Readies Plan to Weaken Rules That Require Cars to Be Cleaner" (New York Times)

"Why Weakening Fuel Efficiency Standards Could Be Trump's Most Climate-Damaging Move Yet" (InsideClimate News)