Trump wants to roll back mileage standards

The Trump administration on Thursday proposed weakening Obama-era mileage standards designed to make cars more fuel efficient and less polluting, a major rollback already being challenged in the courts by California and other states.

The administration also served notice that it wants to revoke states’ long-standing authority to set their own, stricter mileage standards.

Easing requirements that cars be more fuel efficient should make them both cheaper and safer, getting vehicles with the latest safety developments in the hands of consumers, officials said.

It’s got “everything to do with just trying to turn over the fleet ... and get more clean and safe cars on the road,” EPA assistant administrator Bill Wehrum said.

Transportation experts question the reasoning behind the proposal.

The proposal would freeze U.S. mileage standards at 2020 levels, when the new vehicle fleet will be required to hit an average of 30 miles per gallon in real-world driving.

California Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday called the Trump administration proposals “an assault on the health of Americans everywhere. Under his reckless scheme, motorists will pay more at the pump, get worse gas mileage and breathe dirtier air. California will fight this stupidity in every conceivable way possible.”

California and 16 other states filed suit over the fuel efficiency standards in May, anticipating the new regulation.

The Obama administration had planned to keep toughening fuel requirements through 2026, saying those and other regulations on vehicles would save 40,000 lives annually through cleaner air.