Government Energy Policy, Business and Technology

EPA rejects automakers’ bid to weaken fuel efficiency standards

The Washington Post: The Environmental Protection Agency rejected a bid by automakers to roll back fuel efficiency standards that would sharply increase mileage by 2025, saying that the auto companies possess the technology and financial resources to meet the targets set by the Obama administration.

Citing eight years of research, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said that “at every step in the process the analysis has shown that the greenhouse gas emissions standards for cars and light trucks remain affordable and effective through 2025, and will save American drivers billions of dollars at the pump while protecting our health and the environment.”

The standards for model years 2022 through 2025 would result in a fleetwide average fuel economy sticker values of 36 miles a gallon by the model year 2025, 10 miles a gallon higher than the current fleet average, EPA said. If anything, McCarthy said, the standards could have been made more stringent.

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