The Trump administration plans to try to freeze the fuel efficiency standards of Obama's time from 2021 in an attempt to reverse another of the former president's main policies aimed at combating climate change, according to a report by The Washington Post . The report, citing a federal official who has seen the proposal, says that the Trump administration would go further by restricting a state's ability to set its own fuel standards, which would be an attack on California and its strict regulations. of specific state emissions. .
The proposal has been drafted by the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration of the Department of Transportation, and the plan now is to freeze the standards for cars and trucks at the levels established for the year 2021 and maintain them for five years.
The rules of the Obama administration, which involved a partnership with California and the automakers, set standards at 50 miles per gallon for cars and trucks for the year 2025. Obama also, through the Clean Air Act, granted California an exemption to set its own higher standards. That way, if automakers wanted to maintain a presence in the lucrative California market, they would have to comply with the new rules.
The Trump administration now says that a separate law annuls that agreement, reports The Washington Post . The news comes after the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt, who this week was questioned by congressional lawmakers about his myriad of ethical scandals, said earlier this month that the EPA plans to reduce emissions standards to appease to automakers who say SUVs and trucks are more popular than electric cars and other low-emission vehicles.
"The Trump Administration's plan robs Americans of the fuel pump and puts our children's health at risk by polluting the air we breathe," said Xavier Becerra, California's attorney general in a statement The Washington Post "We will closely follow any development and I am ready to take all necessary measures to defend our progress".
