Scott Pruitt, EPA chief, scraps Obama-era fuel efficiency rules
washingtontimes.com
 EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt talks with local media following a press conference after taking a tour of the Black Thunder coal mine outside of Wright, Wyo., Thursday, Mar. 29, 2018. (Josh Galemor/The Casper Star-Tribune via AP) ** FILE ** more >
By Ben Wolfgang - The Washington Times - Monday, April 2, 2018
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt on Monday formally scrapped a key piece of the Obama administration’s fuel-efficiency standards for cars and light-duty trucks, throwing the future of the program into doubt.
In a statement, Mr. Pruitt said the program, known as the Corporate Average Fuel Economy, or CAFE standards, fell victim to politics during the final days of the Obama administration. He said his predecessors at the EPA rushed through rules governing fuel economy for model years 2022 through 2025, and that those rules simply aren’t realistic.
“The Obama Administration’s determination was wrong,” he said. “Obama’s EPA cut the midterm evaluation process short with politically charged expediency, made assumptions about the standards that didn’t comport with reality, and set the standards too high.”
The decision marks a major turning point for how the federal government handles fuel efficiency, and cuts apart what had been one of the most influential pieces of environmental rulemaking undertaken during the Obama presidency.
Under the rules, fleet-wide vehicle averages would’ve had to hit about 50 miles per gallon by 2025.
Mr. Pruitt also said he’ll begin working with the Transportation Department to develop more “appropriate” rules for 2022 to 2025, though it’s unclear exactly what those rules might look like.
The move also sets up a showdown between the federal government and California, which has authority to set its own fuel-efficiency rules and has said it won’t relax its standards, despite what the Trump administration does. |
