Major automakers have embarked on an eleventh-hour push to undercut the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to boost climate and fuel efficiency standards for cars over the next decade.
The Auto Alliance wants lawmakers to include language in a must-pass short-term spending bill that blocks the EPA from approving the 54.5 mile-per-gallon rules.
The automakers opposed a decision by the agency last week to approve a study that shows that moving ahead with the rules would benefit consumers and the environment and will progress as planned. The study was meant to be part of a mid-term review of the regulations that was supposed to start in 2017, but the agency bumped it up last week unexpectedly.
The automakers said they were shocked by the EPA’s action, saying the assessment could not be further from the truth. The automakers said the low cost of gasoline is making customers buy less fuel-efficient sport utility vehicles and pick-up trucks. Consumer behavior, which the EPA cannot control, will make it more difficult for the autos to meet the regulatory requirements, and the industry wants the regulations rolled back or changed.
They said they will be pressing a Trump administration to roll back the regs. But it now appears they are seeking more immediate actions as well in the continuing resolution that must be passed by Friday or risk a government shutdown.
“EPA’s sudden and controversial move to propose auto regulations eight months early — even after Congress warned agencies about taking such steps while political appointees were packing their bags — calls out for congressional action to pause this rulemaking until a thoughtful policy review can occur,” said Alliance spokeswoman Gloria Bergquist, according to Reuters.
