The Car Industry Squirms, as It Gets What It Asked For
On Thursday, the Trump administration announced that it would weaken the country’s clean-car standards, which regulate how much air pollution can be emitted from car tailpipes.
The proposal, which would take effect in 2020, would eliminate the federal requirement that new cars and light trucks get more fuel efficient on average every year. Instead, it would freeze the fuel-economy standard at about 29 miles per gallon until 2025. This is, by any measure, a big concession: The Obama administration once mandated that new cars and trucks average about 43 miles per gallon by that same year.
No one should have been happier about this change But on Thursday, the car industry seemed subdued. The Auto Alliance—which lobbies for the “Big Three” U.S. automakers, as well as Toyota, Volkswagen, and Mazda—did not immediately hail the rollback as a triumph for American business.
