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WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency moved to ease Obama-era vehicle emissions standards, siding with car makers who say the rules don’t work in an era of cheap gasoline, and setting up a fight with environmentalists and the state of California.
The rules, finalized in the waning weeks of the Obama administration, would require auto makers to cut emissions enough so that new vehicles sold average more than 50 miles a gallon by 2025. Monday’s decision would start a process to relax future standards covering vehicle model years 2022-2025. The standards, arrived at through complex government calculations, equal roughly 36 mpg in real-world driving for 2025.
The decision is expected to prompt a battle with California and other states that have implemented tougher controls on greenhouse-gas emissions to limit air pollution and slow climate change. California has a waiver from federal authority under the Clean Air Act that allows the state to set its own, higher standards. The EPA said in its news release Monday that it is re-examining that waiver.
Redrafting these standards has been one of the Trump administration EPA’s highest priorities, and is part of its effort to undo Obama-era climate rules that it calls overly strict. The administration has already announced intentions to leave the Paris international climate accord and to roll back new controls on power-plant emissions.
An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.
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