Calif., 4 automakers strike mileage deal
Administration bypassed; EPA calls it a ‘PR stunt’
DETROIT — Four major automakers have reached a deal with California to increase gas mileage and greenhouse gas emissions standards, bypassing the Trump administration’s push to freeze requirements at 2021 levels.
Ford, BMW, Honda and Volkswagen signed the deal with the California Air Resources Board, the state’s air pollution regulator, which had been at odds with the Trump administration for months. California has said it would exercise its powers to set more stringent pollution and mileage standards than the federal government has proposed.
The Trump administration reacted angrily to the end run, with Environmental Protection Agency spokesman Michael Abboud calling it a “PR stunt” and charging that California regulators “continually refused to produce reasonable and responsible proposals.”
The administration has sought to freeze Obama administration standards, keeping fleetwide new-vehicle mileage at 2021 levels of about 30 mpg. The administration says the extra expense to comply with the requirements will raise the price of new cars, making them unaffordable and depriving buyers of new safety technology. Many experts, including former EPA engineers, challenge the administration’s safety assertion.
The administration also has threatened to challenge California’s ability to set its own standards.
After the deal was announced, White House spokesman Judd Deere said the federal government, and not a single state, should be in control of the policy and that the Trump administration will move forward with a single national standard for automotive fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions.
In a statement Thursday, California regulators said their deal delays by one year the new-vehicle fuel efficiency requirements approved under the Obama administration for model years 2022 through 2025.
That means the fleet of new vehicles would have to average around 36 mpg in real-world driving by 2026.
The deal also slightly slows the rate of growth in the early years “to provide additional lead time” for the auto industry, the statement said.
The four automakers see the California agreement as “insurance” to provide some certainty to the industry and the state no matter who wins the 2020 presidential elections, according to a person familiar with the talks whoasked not to be identified because details of the negotiations haven’t been made public.
The four automakers represent about 30% of U.S. new-vehicle sales.
The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, which represents a dozen automakers in and out of the California deal, said in a statement that the industry still wants nationwide standards with year-over-year mileage increases that fit with what people are now buying, SUVs and trucks.
Alan Baum, a Detroit-area consultant who does work for the auto industry and environmental groups, said the deal is clearly designed to get the rest of the auto industry on board and to force the Trump administration to the bargaining table with California.
“This really puts California in a much stronger position because this really puts some pressure on the federal government,” Baum said. “These four automakers don’t want to be out on an island here. They would like their competitors to do this as well.”
He said the deal could delay a final rule that’s supposed to come from the federal government in August or September, keeping the current standards in place longer. For the automakers, it’s not much different from how they were preparing to meet the Obama administration standards, he said.
The four automakers came to California with the proposal, and the Air Resources Board hopes other companies will join them, Chairwoman Mary Nichols said Thursday. The state is reaching out to other automakers, Gov. Gavin Newsom said.