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One of the first official actions taken by President Joe Biden after his inauguration on January 20 means the almost certain end of a Trump era plan to weaken future fuel efficiency regulations. Among Biden’s instructions to federal agencies was an “Executive Order on the Protection of Public Health and the Environment and the Restoration of Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis”.
This executive order tells federal agencies that environmental justice is a priority – which will now be guided by scientific evidence. In addition, the heads of each agency will have to review any regulations, policies or other actions taken between January 20, 2017 and January 20, 2021 that are inconsistent with that goal. And there is a special call for the recent actions of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to weaken U.S. fuel efficiency standards in the years to come, as well as the agency’s attempt to neutralize California’s power to regulate air pollution.
The government’s pre-attack on clean air and fuel efficiency started almost immediately and culminated in two actions in the past 16 months. In September 2019, the EPA announced that it was revoking an exemption that allowed California to define and impose its own stricter air pollution standards within the state’s borders. Then, in March 2020, the EPA published a new fuel efficiency rule for passenger cars and light trucks for the 2021-2026 model years that significantly weakened the fleet efficiency targets demanded by the Obama administration.
The EPA now has until April 2021 to publish a proposed rule “suspending, reviewing or terminating” the repeal of California’s air pollution exemption. And in July 2021, it will have to do the same with the widely criticized fuel efficiency rule, with instructions to take into account the opinions of “representatives of unions, states and industry”. While some companies like GM and Toyota agreed to the Trump administration’s actions, other automakers voluntarily adhered to California rules.