Donald Trump to ease Obama-era rule on auto fuel economy standards
Read Time:2 Minute, 30 Second
Dave Boyer
Displayed with permission from The Washington Times
Displayed with permission from The Washington Times
President Trump will announce Wednesday that he’s reopening a review of Obama-era fuel economy rules, after the EPA broke an agreement with the auto industry last year and accelerated the final tailpipe emissions standards for cars and light trucks.
Mr. Trump is traveling to Ypsilanti, Michigan, where he’ll grant the regulatory reprieve for the industry in front of an audience of auto workers. Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder is expected to attend the event.
The fuel standards, which call for manufacturers to boost their fleet-wide fuel economy to an average of 50.8 mpg by 2025 from the current 35.3 mpg, would remain in place while under review. Automakers say low gasoline prices are driving consumers toward pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles, making the tougher fuel efficiency standards harder to achieve.
A senior White House official said the Obama administration broke an agreement with automakers last year by locking in the tougher fuel standards instead of waiting for a midterm review set for 2018.
“The auto industry rightly cried foul,” the official said. “We’re going to get this agreement back on track.”
In the meeting with auto executives and workers, Mr. Trump “will discuss how his plans for rolling back federal red tape will lead to more American jobs and higher wages, specifically in the automobile sector,” White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Tuesday.
Opponents of the move said it’s unnecessary, saying the auto industry had two of its best years in 2015 and 2016.
“Automakers are meeting the standards and thriving,” said the Union of Concerned Scientists. “The point is not to force them to stop selling big vehicles and start selling smaller ones, but rather to make today’s big vehicles cleaner than last year’s comparable vehicles.”
The senior White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the administration wants “to spend another year looking at data in front of us, making sure that it’s right so that in 2018, we can set standards that are technologically feasible, economically feasible, while the auto industry continues to grow and create jobs.”
A report last week from researchers at Indiana University’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs said the Obama-era standards will cause “short-term pain” and long-term benefits if left in place.
“Due to unexpectedly low gas prices and tepid demand for electric and hybrid vehicles, the standards will have greater economic impact than envisioned when they were developed,” said John Graham, dean of SPEA and co-author of the report. “Our findings don’t call into question the need for regulation, but we found that the federal requirements need to be fine-tuned.”
The researchers found that the short-term pain results from higher auto price tags due to new technology, and that the higher costs would curb sales and hurt employment in the auto industry and its supply chain, especially in the South and Midwest.
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I remember the same argument when we began mandating catalytic converters. It would hurt the less affluent by raising the cost of a car by $300. Of course inflation in those days was adding many thousands every year but we got the converters and we got such draconian emissions controls that 70’s car ran like shit, got awful mileage, were less durable and were s l o w. American cars developed a reputation for nastiness that they still haven’t shed with the typically behind the times American consumer. A corporate Average Fuel Economy standard of 54 Mpg is going to do the same thing. That’s hard to beat with a motorcycle. If our SUVs are exempt , it will eliminate cars altoghether and create a safety hazard. I’m venturing to guess that Americans don’t want to drive 500 CC cars that weigh less than one of those humorously titled “smart cars” considering that our SUVs and pick up trucks are getting bigger and more numerous every year. Who knows what will happen, but in a way it’s sad now that American Engineering has finally come to the forefront and is producing 800 hp cars that meet strict emission standards and get better mileage at dramatically lower cost than the competition. A 200 MPH Cadillac can pass an emissions test when a 100 hp Volkswagen has to cheat? Sorry that radical change in vehicle size and weight and performance will set American companies back to being 20 years behind the foreigners. They are already putting more emphasis on electric cars than Internal combustion and this is why.
Why not raise gas taxes? Why not tax vehicle weight? There are other approaches!