The Environmental Protection Agency recently announced it would roll back and revise fuel-efficiency standard implemented during the Obama administration, handing a significant policy victory to the auto industry.

The Obama-era standard would have required most vehicles to average 54.5 miles to the gallon by 2025. However, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said Monday the agency would weaken the standards, calling them "too high," NPR reported.

The proposed fuel-efficiency standard was one of Obama's most significant policies to mitigate climate change. The policy was also one of the conditions of the U.S. government's multi-billion dollar auto industry bailout following the 2008 financial crisis. Many environmentalist organizations decried Pruitt's announcement, but the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers called it "the right decision" in a statement.

"Automakers are committed to increasing fuel economy requirements and the key to achieving higher standards is selling more of the highly fuel-efficient vehicles, including 50 models of electric cars, now in dealer showrooms," the group said.

The EPA's decision sets up a potential legal clash with California, which has vowed to stick with the stricter Obama-era standard. The Auto Alliance said that "maintaining a single national program is critical to ensuring that cars remain affordable," and that it plans to work with the state once the EPA begins rulemaking. http://bit.ly/2GA73JP

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