- The Environmental Protection Agency has tentatively concluded that future vehicle emissions standards should be eased, a decision long advocated by car companies, WSJ reports.
- Automakers have argued that the future standards, which for 2025 equate to ~36 mpg in real-world driving, are too difficult to meet in an era of cheap gasoline that has resulted in soaring sales of less-efficient pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles.
- A spokesman for the California Air Resources Board tells WSJ it is troubled by word of the EPA’s tentative decision; the state currently has an EPA waiver to set its own standards separate from U.S. rules and had been in lockstep with Obama administration targets.
- The EPA faces an April 1 deadline to determine whether the targets should be strengthened, relaxed or left unchanged.
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