Trump’s EPA rolls back auto emission standards. Even auto industry doesn’t want that.
- Jun 26, 2024
- 2 min read
June 27: On This Day In 2017
The single-biggest source of greenhouse gases in the United States, according to defined segments, is the transportation industry. So, Obama tried to do something about it. One of his Administration’s top environmental accomplishments was to raise the required average mpg of American cars and light trucks from 30 mpg in 2020 to 39 by 2025.
But Donald Trump is a guy who believes environmental harm doesn’t exist. And, he seemed singularly focused on overturning anything Obama did...just for the sake of it. So, Trump tried to reverse Obama’s mpg standards–even though the major auto companies were fine with Obama’s targets.
Did this matter? OTDI 2017, MIT researchers presented their analysis. They showed that Trump’s freeze on higher mileage standards—even if it lasted just for a few years—could result in decades of substantially-elevated carbon emissions, thereby inhibiting our efforts to minimize the impacts of climate change.
More rational heads tried to counteract Trump. The automakers, in conjunction with the State of California, developed an end-around. They implemented their own requirements, believing that most other states would follow, and that CA-compliant cars would be sold nationally.
This infuriated Trump, of course. An EPA spokesman called their efforts to clean up our air a “publicity stunt” and claimed that private companies and states didn't have the right to set their own standards for their own products.
Things turned around with Biden: His EPA proposed standards of close to 58 mpg by 2032, representing a huge jump from even the Obama levels. They said this would help reduce the amount of CO2 dumped into the air by 3.1 billion tons through 2050.
Dive Deeper
NPR report on Trump’s attempt to freeze mileage standards
Physics World’s report on MIT research on mileage standards
California and automakers agree to circumvent Trump mileage freeze, reported by AP via PBS
PBS reported on Biden quickly seeking to re-boost mileage standards
Biden proposed even more robust mpg standards, reported NPR
EPA’s overview of greenhouse gases
Summary: Trump’s EPA rolls back auto emission standards