EPA Proposes Major Roll Back Of Obama-Era Car Fuel Pollution Rule

On Thursday, the Environmental Protection Agency issued a proposal to roll back a Barack Obama-era climate change rule related to car pollution that was designed to substantially reduce the U.S.’s greenhouse gas emissions.

EPA Seeks To Reverse Obama-Era Car Fuel Pollution Regulation

The Obama-era rule regarding contamination from car tailpipes dictated that auto manufacturers must  double the fuel economy of vehicles to more than 50 miles per gallon by 2025.

This requirement would have essentially forced manufacturers to make and sell higher numbers of electric and hybrid cars.

An EPA spokesman said on Thursday the agency submitted its proposal to roll back the rule to the White House Office of Management and Budget for review.

Scott Pruitt, the EPA administrator, is one of the most scandal-plagued members of President Donald Trump‘s administration, and repeatedly tried to sue the agency before being named to lead it in 2017. In April, he testified before congressional leaders about his involvement in many controversies, which has raised questions about whether he violated federal ethics rules and that have led many lawmakers and political pundits to call for his resignation.

California in particular has been at the center of the national climate change debate, as it sets its own car pollution regulations pursuant to the 1970 Clean Air Act. The state has been one of few to introduce progressive legislation on renewable energy sources behind the leadership of lawmakers and Democratic Governor Jerry Brown, a vocal Trump critic.

Last month, California became the first state to require all new homes to have solar power. It is part of an initiative to make at least half of the state’s electricity to come from non-carbon-producing sources by 2030.

Brown and California’s attorney general Xavier Becerra have stated that if Trump fights the state on car fuel emissions standards, they will counter with any measures necessary including potentially a lawsuit.

California officials and car manufacturers have reportedly been meeting several times over the last few weeks in Washington and Sacramento in order to reach an agreement on fuel economy regulations.