(Photo Credit: Antti T. Nissinen, Flickr Creative Commons)Four major automakers struck a deal with the state of California on fuel efficiency, defying the Trump administration’s push to roll back emissions standards. Ford, Volkswagen, BMW, and Honda reached a voluntary agreement with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) on Thursday.
The Trump administration initially proposed rolling back fuel efficiency standards in 2017 and then suggested freezing them for six years. Discussions between White House officials and CARB over the fuel economy rules broke down earlier this year. The stalemate frustrated automakers.
“The auto industry needs regulatory certainty, not protracted litigation,” Ford’s president of global operations Joe Hinrichs said at the time, according to Reuters.
Under Thursday’s agreement, the four automakers representing about 30% of US auto sales promised to achieve annual improvements in greenhouse gas emissions and fuel efficiency, the LA Times reported. Reuters described the agreement as being more stringent than what the Trump administration has been proposing but not as stringent as the Obama administration rule, which set gas mileage standards to go up significantly by 2025.
“These terms will provide our companies much-needed regulatory certainty by allowing us to meet both federal and state requirements with a single national fleet, avoiding a patchwork of regulations while continuing to ensure meaningful greenhouse gas emissions reductions,” the automakers said in a joint statement, the Washington Post reported.
Mary Nichols, who chairs CARB, told Reuters on Wednesday that the automakers “didn’t want to face the expense, distraction and the bad publicity that comes from being part of a big rollback on clean cars.” The automakers also agreed not to legally challenge California’s vehicle regulatory authority, she added.
A spokesperson for the EPA called the voluntary framework “a PR stunt” in an email to the Washington Post.
Earlier this month, the Trump administration moved to freeze fuel efficiency fines for automakers. Under Obama, those fines were set to rise sharply. A trade organization representing 12 of the world’s largest car manufacturers released a statement praising the White House’s announcement.
