Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt said Thursday that he is set to rein in the agency’s fuel economy regulations for cars and light trucks “very, very soon.”
Pruitt discussed the rules on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” saying they were rushed out at the end of last year without paying much attention to comments or conflicting opinions.
“What was concerning to me, and I think concerning to the president, is how that process occurred,” Pruitt said. “Within 10 days they accelerated their decision to say those standards should be adopted and continued, and increased. So that’s something we are going to address very, very soon.”
The Obama EPA issued a determination late last year that the next round of stricter vehicle rules should go into effect, amid protests by the auto industry that the regulations were not keeping pace with consumer demand and must be curtailed.
The automakers argued that consumers are buying heavier, less fuel-efficient SUVs and trucks because of lower gasoline prices, which has hurt sales of smaller, more fuel-efficient cars, hybrids and electric cars that the EPA rules are meant to drive into the marketplace.
The EPA decision would push the auto industry to drive up average fuel efficiency from about 30 miles per gallon to well over 50 mpg in less than a decade.
The auto industry has been lobbying President Trump to roll back the EPA’s decision to move ahead with the stricter standards, while environmentalists have been pressing the administration and Congress to oppose such a move.
