California's tough new emissions standards for vehicles were reaffirmed by state regulators Friday, putting the state on course for a possible head-on collision with President Donald Trump's administration over the issue.
The state's rules, confirmed by the California Air Resources board, will set up escalating targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from 2022 to 2025. California officials also set a requirement for automakers to sell more zero-emission vehicles and plug-in hybrids there with the goal of putting more than 1 million on the road by 2025, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Corporate Average Fuel Economy, or CAFE, standards would require the industry to deliver a fleet average of at least 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025, according NBC News.
"Based on extensive analysis done, the data supports the conclusion that the 2022 to 2025 model year standards are appropriate as developed," Pippin Mader, an air resources engineer at the California Air Resources Board, said, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Along with Washington, D.C., 12 states adopt California's rules as their own: Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Washington, the Free Press said.
The new greenhouse gas rules were written with the administration of former President Barack Obama in hopes of having a single national standard for new vehicles.
However, the Trump administration appeared it was moving toward rolling back national standards when it reversed a decision by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to stay on course with regulations through 2025.
The EPA plans to resume its review of regulations for 2021-25 model year vehicles and is widely expected to grant automakers more flexibility to meet greenhouse gas emission standards.
"My administration will work tirelessly to eliminate the industry-killing regulations," Trump said earlier during a speech in Michigan, noted NBC News. "These standards are costly for automakers and the American people."
The Trump administration may go as far as revoking the waiver that allows California to set its own emissions standards, NBC News said, something the state has used to force automakers start rolling out large numbers of zero-emissions vehicles.
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