In an article posted here on CBT News, we reported 17 states, including California, are now suing the Trump administration over recent actions by the EPA to reverse Obama-Era rules that would require automakers to produce car fleets that averaged over fifty miles per gallon. This action has set the stage for a major fight that could result in two distinct sets of emissions rules for automakers.
Joining us to discuss this further is David Friedman from Consumers Union, an independent organization that works with consumers for truth, transparency, and fairness in the marketplace.
CBT Automotive dives right in and asked David, why is the EPA under the Trump administration looking to over-turn the Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards agreement? Simply put, he says that it’s for tow reason. Soon after The trump administration took office the automotive industries lobbyist sent in a letting requesting that the standards be weakened. This is an addition to the administration working effortlessly to undo a lot of consumer protections that were built by the previous administrations.
As the numbers in the latest report shows, the demand for larger vehicles is at an all-time high throughout the country. How will automakers offer consumers what they want but still meet these high emissions standards? Most sedans on the market today can’t meet these 50 mpg standards unless they are at least hybrid technology. We learned from Friedman that these standards are based upon laboratory testing and in truth has nothing to do with how these vehicles are actually driven. “The first thing you have to do is take any number for the standard and discount it by about twenty-six – thirty percent, bringing the fleet average to around thirty-six to thirty-seven miles per gallon.”
Jim and Friedman continue the conversation on air and talk further about how the Clean Air Act from 1970 allows any state to enforce their own emissions standards and how that could cause a division in emission rules as well as the additional impact this will have on dealers.
For more about EPA, watch the full interview with David Friedman linked above or click here to read the article mentioned above by one of CBT’s Network writers.
