President Trump is planning to scuttle Obama-era fuel economy regulations for cars and light trucks in actions anticipated to be taken later this week.
Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York and nearly a dozen of his Democratic colleagues sent a letter to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt on Tuesday warning him against taking the drastic step.
“These automobile emissions standards are economically feasible and technologically achievable for the auto industry,” the senators wrote in a letter to Pruitt. “It is critical that they remain in place.”
The automakers have been pressing Trump to reverse a determination made by the Environmental Protection Agency in the waning days of the previous administration to move ahead with standards that would drive up fuel economy standards from about 30 miles per gallon in 2010 to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025, while also meeting requirements to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The determination is part of the Obama administration’s pledge to meet the goals spelled out in the 2015 Paris climate change agreement.
Nevertheless, groups representing Detroit automakers say the standards are impossible to meet because they do not jibe with consumer preference.
Consumers are buying more SUVs and pick-up trucks and fewer fuel efficient cars, the automotive industry argued. Upping the standards would make it impossible for the industry to comply with the standards, making them potentially subject to fines and litigation, they say.
Pruitt is expected to reverse the Obama-era determination that the standards go forward.
The joint EPA and Department of Transportation vehicle standards are designed to drive more electric vehicles and hybrids into the market. Critics argue that much of that market penetration is already occurring under the previous round of standards. Commerce Department data over the last few years have shown a sizable uptick in consumer demand for larger, less fuel-efficient vehicles because of the low cost of gasoline.
