Our view: On mpg standards, let California be California

For just shy of a decade, a set of tough emissions standards have required vehicles in America to burn fuel more efficiently — increasing miles per gallon, saving each driver hundreds of dollars at the pump and lowering carbon emissions that threaten the planet.

On Monday, the Trump administration announced plans to roll back these fuel efficiency standards for the years ahead. It’s being done in the spirit of President Trump’s anti-regulatory agenda, but this would be a major mistake for the planet and for drivers’ pocketbooks.

It could also trigger a nasty showdown between the federal government and several states, led by California. The nation could wind up with two auto markets with competing emission standards, something Detroit doesn’t want.

Under President Obama, two federal agencies, automakers and California reached an agreement in 2012 on a rising set of fuel emissions standards that have spawned a new generation of cleaner-running vehicles using lighter materials and advanced technology.

The result has been healthy improvement in fuel economy, to 25.2 miles per gallon last year. The target for a second phase, 2022-25, is about 50 mpg, which translates to about 35 mpg in real-world fleets.

That’s an ambitious goal, perhaps overly so. There are conflicting studies on whether vehicles made lighter to comply with fuel efficiency standards are less safe in auto crashes. And no one wins when the government pressures automakers to build vehicles that consumers don’t want to buy.

To curb consumption and emissions, we’ve long preferred an increase in the federal gas tax, or a carbon tax rebated to consumers. But if Congress refuses to go along with either of those approaches, reasonable fuel economy standards are worth preserving.

Monday’s announcement by Scott Pruitt, the embattled Environmental Protection Agency administrator, sets the stage for a states-rights donnybrook. California has for years held a waiver, joined by 13 other states, allowing it to set more stringent emission standards. A second California waiver, joined by nine other states, requires a certain level of electric cars be sold in the state.

Gutting the efficiency standards means one or both of the California waivers would have to be revoked, or else automakers would be selling two categories of cars to American drivers.

Pruitt seems girded for battle, saying Monday that one state shouldn’t be allowed to dictate standards for the rest of the nation.

A far wiser approach would be to resume negotiations among all the stakeholders. One possible deal discussed previously, but rejected by Pruitt, was relaxing 2025 standards in exchange for extending rules to 2030.

For the sake of a warming planet, let’s hope that cooler heads prevail.