Showdown With California Looms As EPA Refuses To Extend Fuel-Economy Rules

[Swordsmyth]

Per Bloomberg, the Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday signaled that it won't dictate the future of ambitious automobile fuel economy regulations adopted during the Obama administration.

"California is not the arbiter of these issues," Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt told Bloomberg News in an interview. California regulates greenhouse gas emissions at the state level, "but that shouldn’t and can’t dictate to the rest of the country what these levels are going to be."

During a Tuesday morning interview with Bloomberg, EPA chief Scott Pruitt said the EPA likely wouldn't consider extending fuel economy standards beyond 2025. That statement is tantamount to a rejection of California's offer to ease its standards in an exchange for an extension.

Pruitt said the EPA is not "presently" looking at extending standards beyond 2025. California Air Resources Board Chairman Mary Nichols has signaled a willingness to discuss altering the state’s auto rules in the near term if the Trump administration agrees to develop efficiency targets further into the future.
Automakers aggressively lobbied Trump to take a new look at the standards, arguing they need to be reviewed in light of surging light-truck sales, low gasoline prices and tepid demand for plug-in vehicles.
Even so, the companies have repeatedly stressed in recent weeks that they hope the federal government and California will continue coordinating their tailpipe emissions policies. They’ve also invested billions of dollars in electric cars aimed not just at California but also overseas markets, especially China.

In making this decision, Pruitt reasons that setting overly stringent fuel-economy standards for automakers would be counterproductive because they could encourage people to keep older cars for longer.

"The whole purpose of CAFE standards is to make cars more efficient that people are actually buying," Pruitt said. "If you just come in and try to drive this to a point where the auto sector in Detroit just makes cars that people don’t want to purchase, then people are staying in older cars, and the emission levels are worse, which defeats the overall purpose of what we’re trying to achieve."

The agency has until the beginning of next month to determine whether broad-based fuel economy standards adopted under President Obama should be revised, or left alone.

More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...-economy-rules

[Swordsmyth]

The Trump administration is laying the groundwork to gut fuel efficiency standards for U.S. cars and light trucks, one of the signature achievements of the Obama era.

The EPA has readied a final determination that calls for the rolling back of corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards, according to the Wall Street Journal. The current standards would require automakers to sell vehicles that average 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025.

This move by the White House will likely be subjected to litigation. Putting regulations in place requires a lot of legwork and several years of procedure. Undoing them is not all that much easier.


The EPA is expected to publish its determination by April 1.

For the EPA to truly be successful at undoing the fuel requirements, it might need to neuter California’s authority at setting its own fuel standards. That has California officials readying to do battle with Washington. “California paved the way for a single national program and is fully committed to maintaining it. However, we feel that this rumored finding—if official—places that program in jeopardy,” a spokesman for the California Air Resources Board (CARB), which regulates air quality, told the WSJ.

More at: https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-G...Standards.html

[Swordsmyth]

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt said Monday it would revise automobile emissions standards set by the Obama administration, slamming the Obama-era EPA as setting too strict standards, which he deemed “not appropriate.”
The move, following Pruitt’s completion of the Midterm Evaluation process, would weaken greenhouse gas and fuel economy standards for vehicle models for years 2022 through 2025.
“The Obama EPA’s determination was wrong,” Pruitt said in a statement Monday. “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 standards too high.”


Pruitt also said the EPA would examine a waiver granted to California under the Clean Air Act, which sets standards for vehicle tailpipe emissions of certain pollutants. The federal waiver granted by the EPA allowed California to impose stricter standards for emissions of certain pollutants than required by federal law.
But the EPA said Monday that the California waiver is “still being re-examined,” setting the Trump administration up for what could be another legal battle with the state.

“Cooperative federalism doesn’t mean that one state can dictate standards for the rest of the country,” Pruitt said. “EPA will set a national standard for greenhouse gas emissions that allows auto manufacturers to make cars that people both want and can afford—while still expanding environmental and safety benefits of newer cars.”

More at: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018...standards.html

[fedupinmo]

Let California make their own damn cars... or make up a roster of approved cars just like they do for handguns.

[euphemia]

Or Californians can buy their vehicles in Arizona and Nevada.

[Anti Federalist]

Good.

The CAFE standards that were put in place could not have been complied with, either with existing or anticipated new technology.

This is why, for right now, you have huge F150 pickups powered by tiny 4 cylinder turbos and ten speed automatics, adding cost and complexity to an already over-complicated drivetrain.

To meet the Obama fatwa's pending 54.5 MPH mandate, which came due in 2024 IIRC, the only way to comply would have been to eliminate ICE in all or most of a company's fleet.

[Swordsmyth]

Automakers met Friday with President Donald Trump at the White House to impress on him the need for a single national fuel standard as his administration's move to roll back mile-per-gallon rules on U.S. cars and trucks stokes fears California and other states might try to impose their own regulations."Fundamentally, that's the issue," Fiat Chrysler Chairman and CEO Sergio Marchionne told the Free Press following the meeting, underscoring how disruptive a series of different state rules could be for the auto industry.
Marchionne, whom Trump called his "favorite" auto executive at the outset of the meeting because of FCA's decision to move some production from Mexico to Michigan, declined to discuss details of the meeting. But Marchionne said he agreed that the standards for model years 2025 and beyond, which were agreed to in 2011 under then-President Barack Obama, had become unrealistic because of a marketplace shift to SUVs and trucks.

He called those rules "a boat anchor around your neck that says you’re going to have to do this regardless of your ability to recover costs from the marketplace."


In attendance at the meeting besides Marchionne were General Motors Chairman and CEO Mary Barra and Ford President and CEO Jim Hackett, as well as officials from Toyota North America, Nissan, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Honda, Hyundai and Volkswagen. Representatives of two industry groups — the Alliance of Auto Manufacturers and Global Automakers — also attended the meeting.
Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Larry Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council, were also on hand.
"We discussed with the president one national standard. We had a really good discussion," said Hackett. "We want one national standard with California included, and the president's done a lot of work to get this solved."
The heads of the two trade groups put out a statement saying the administration "will soon issue a range of proposals for future fuel economy and ... we look forward to reviewing (it)." They also said they "appreciate the president’s openness to a discussion with California on an expedited basis."
After Pruitt announced in early April that the EPA would roll back the Obama-era fuel standards, automakers have been trying to make clear that they are committed to increasing fuel efficiency even without those tougher standards in place. This week, Barra put out a statement saying GM has an "absolute and unwavering" commitment to improving fuel economy, reducing emissions and investing in electric vehicle technology.


As the meeting got under way, Trump told reporters, "We're working on (fuel) standards, environmental controls. We're working on how to build more cars in the United States. We have a great capacity for building. We're importing a lot of cars, and we want a lot of those cars to be made in the United States."
Trump also singled out Marchionne — an Italian citizen — as his "favorite" for a decision to invest $1 billion in Warren and move production of Ram Heavy Duty trucks from Mexico to Michigan.
"That's what we like. In fact, right now, he's my favorite man in the room," Trump said.
"No, big announcement. And I'll tell you, the people in Michigan very much appreciate it. It's a big deal. Leaving Mexico; going to Michigan."
Trump in 2016 became the first Republican presidential nominee to win Michigan since George H.W. Bush in 1988.
Before reporters were sent out of the room, Trump was also asked about ongoing negotiations with Canada and Mexico regarding the North American Free Trade Agreement — which is significant to automakers with supply chains that cross both borders. A key deadline looms Thursday if Trump is to change the treaty this year.
Trump has long argued that the trade deal has resulted in jobs and production moving out of the U.S. and he wants to bring it back, though that, in turn, could hurt the bottom line for automakers.
"We'll see what happens," Trump said. "I've never been a NAFTA fan, as you know. NAFTA has been a terrible deal for the United States and one of the worst trade deals in history. ... We'll see what happens. Mexico and Canada have — look, they don't like to lose the golden goose, but I'm representing the United States. I'm not representing Mexico, and I'm not representing Canada."

More at: https://www.freep.com/story/money/ca...ard/602992002/

[Swordsmyth]

The Trump administration is done trying to negotiate with California, and will move forward with plans to revoke the state of its authority to set tougher fuel efficiency standards.
“At this point, we have to move to finalize,” Andrew Wheeler, head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), stated in a Monday interview with the Washington Examiner. “We don’t have time to move to reopen . We tried to work with California, but we were just not able to. In California, politics was playing the bigger hand than the policy.”
The EPA will introduce its final proposal sometime this spring that strips a waiver California and other states have long used to set tougher vehicle emission standards than the federal government, forcing every state in the U.S. to comply with the same rules.
The move to revoke California of its waiver comes as the Trump administration is also looking to freeze Obama-era efficiency rules meant to cut carbon emissions from the transportation industry. The EPA, along with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, is finalizing a proposal to freeze vehicle efficiency standards for cars and light trucks, in lieu of raising them annually.
The White House argues the Obama-era rules render new cars too expensive, and would prompt consumers to rely on older models that are less safe and not as environmentally friendly.


More at: https://truepundit.com/trump-will-st...co2-from-cars/

[Dr.3D]

The Trump administration is done trying to negotiate with California, and will move forward with plans to revoke the state of its authority to set tougher fuel efficiency standards.
“At this point, we have to move to finalize,” Andrew Wheeler, head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), stated in a Monday interview with the Washington Examiner. “We don’t have time to move to reopen . We tried to work with California, but we were just not able to. In California, politics was playing the bigger hand than the policy.”
The EPA will introduce its final proposal sometime this spring that strips a waiver California and other states have long used to set tougher vehicle emission standards than the federal government, forcing every state in the U.S. to comply with the same rules.
The move to revoke California of its waiver comes as the Trump administration is also looking to freeze Obama-era efficiency rules meant to cut carbon emissions from the transportation industry. The EPA, along with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, is finalizing a proposal to freeze vehicle efficiency standards for cars and light trucks, in lieu of raising them annually.
The White House argues the Obama-era rules render new cars too expensive, and would prompt consumers to rely on older models that are less safe and not as environmentally friendly.


More at: https://truepundit.com/trump-will-st...co2-from-cars/

As if Obama didn't get rid of many of the older cars with his "Cash for Clunkers", deal. Now poor people have a hard time finding anything they can afford.

Bought a car in California, back in the 70's. Drove it home and one day it wouldn't start anymore. Turns out the acceleration pump in the carb was made out of plastic and had disolved in some bad fuel I'd bought. I couldn't find that part anyplace, because it was a California Carburetor.

[Swordsmyth]

As if Obama didn't get rid of many of the older cars with his "Cash for Clunkers", deal. Now poor people have a hard time finding anything they can afford.

Bought a car in California, back in the 70's. Drove it home and one day it wouldn't start anymore. Turns out the acceleration pump in the carb was made out of plastic and had disolved in some bad fuel I'd bought. I couldn't find that part anyplace, because it was a California Carburetor.

Liberals always hurt the poor.