EPA

The New York Times reports that the Trump administration and Transportation Secretary Duffy have unveiled the “Freedom Means Affordable Cars” initiative, sharply rolling back fuel economy standards for new vehicles. The new rule significantly reduces automakers’ mandatory emissions and fuel-efficiency obligations, and is being framed by environmental groups, California’s Air Resources Board and several automakers as a major reversal of US climate policy that is likely to trigger legal challenges and industry-wide ripple effects.

The New York Times reports that the Trump administration is preparing a sweeping rollback of federal clean car rules, including the final phase of greenhouse gas emission standards for passenger cars and light trucks set under the Biden administration, alongside a push to revoke California’s long-standing emissions waiver.

US media reported on September 14 that the Environmental Protection Agency has formally repealed its greenhouse gas emission limits for power plants, prompting immediate sharp reactions at the federal and state levels, from industry groups and from the business community. The rule had been regarded as one of the most substantive climate-policy levers in the US power sector, and its repeal means that, for several years to come, the US electricity industry will no longer face mandatory federal emission constraints, leaving state governments, grid operators and companies to make investment and operating decisions in a highly fragmented policy environment.