The Biden administration announced on Thursday it would roll back a Trump-era regulation that relaxed the average fuel economy of new cars sold in the U.S. The tailpipe emissions regulations enacted by President Trump loosened the standard in 2020, originally set by Obama at 51 mpg, to about 44 miles per gallon by 2026. The new Biden standard would mandate 52 miles per gallon by 2026.
President Biden said he was enacting this rollback to battle, what he believes, are the impacts of catastrophic climate change already wreaking havoc on the planet.
As reported in the New York Times:
“Mr. Biden laid out the stakes in stark terms, calling the transition an act ‘to save the planet.’
“With the impacts of a warming planet seen in record droughts, deadly heat waves, floods and wildfires around the globe, scientists say that simply restoring Obama-era climate controls will not be enough.
“… Without a radical change to the type of vehicles Americans drive, it will be impossible for Mr. Biden to meet his ambitious pledge to cut planet-warming emissions by 50 percent from 2005 levels by the end of this decade. Gasoline-powered cars and trucks are the largest single source of greenhouse gases produced in the United States, accounting for 28 percent of the country’s total carbon emissions.”
In addition to rolling back the Trump-rules, the President also signed an executive order calling for at least 50% of all vehicles sold in the nation to be electric by the year 2030. He was joined by auto executives from Ford, Chrysler, and GM, as well as from the United Auto Workers Union. Currently about 2 percent of vehicles sold are electric.
To read the full story in the New York Times, click here.
* This article was originally published here
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