In what will represent the administration’s biggest move on energy policy this year, President Obama on Friday will announce that his administration has struck a deal with the nation’s biggest automakers to ramp up vehicle fuel-economy standards to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025, industry and congressional sources said. The higher standards could slash U.S. fossil-fuel emissions and oil consumption and drive major changes in U.S. auto manufacturing.
National Journal reported earlier Wednesday that industry and congressional sources said the administration was likely to make the announcement, and White House press secretary Jay Carney confirmed in his afternoon briefing that Obama would hold an event at the Washington Convention Center on Friday.
Environmentalists pushed the administration to raise the current vehicle standard of 35.5 miles per gallon to 62 mpg by 2025. Automakers, who said such a stringent standard would cripple them financially and essentially mandate production of only electric and hybrid vehicles, pushed for a standard in the range of 45 mpg.
Sources familiar with the talks say that the two sides have settled in principle on 54.5 mpg by 2025, a hike of 65 percent from today’s standards. One major reason automakers agreed to such a significant hike is because the White House said it would permit a reconsideration of the standards at a midpoint date.
“I think the one thing that is making this acceptable is that there is a general agreement that there will be a review in 2018 that will take a look at whether or not the out-year standards for 2022 through 2025 are really appropriate,” said one industry source involved in the negotiations, who requested anonymity because the talks are ongoing ahead of the formal announcement. “If they’re too low, they’ll be addressed upwards. If they’re too high, they’ll be addressed downwards.”
(BACKGROUND: More on the deal)
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