The battle between the industry and the Obama administration sets up the potential that the incoming Trump administration could scale back the regulations automakers initially agreed to in 2012.
Ford on Wednesday accused the Obama administration of playing “eleventh-hour politics” after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it would recommend keeping strict greenhouse emission standards in place through 2025, despite a major industry lobbying effort aimed at relaxing those standards..
Ford signaled that it hopes that President-elect Donald Trump will roll back the regulations.
Ford’s uncharacteristically harsh public statement was at the forefront of a chorus of criticism hurled at the EPA and the Obama administration after the government tossed aside concerns repeatedly expressed by the industry since July about emission regulations that will take effect between 2020 and 2025.
The battle between the industry and the Obama administration also sets up the the potential that the incoming Trump administration could take control of the review process and scale back the regulations automakers initially agreed to in 2012.
“It is deeply disappointing that eleventh-hour politics in a lame-duck Administration has short-circuited a data-driven process for developing regulation,” Ziad Ojakli, Ford’s group vice-president of government and relations, said. “Ford and the industry stand ready to work with the next Administration and Congress to find a way forward.”
The Auto Alliance, the industry’s leading lobbying group, sent a letter to Trump’s transition team that specifically asked the incoming team take part in the mid-term evaluation of automotive regulations “to ensure that these are consistent with the policy objectives of the new administration.”
Gloria Bergquist, vice president of the alliance, said it’s an open question whether the EPA can conclude a public comment period and “turn it around and finalize” the decision before Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20. The U.S. Department of Transportation, which oversees a related set of fuel economy standards, has not completed its regulatory review.
Bergquist said the EPA made its announcement without coordinating with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. “What if NHTSA comes up with a different standard?” said Bergquist.
The Trump transition team did not immediately respond to questions Wednesday.
Read more of the original article at Detroit Free Press.
