WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), chairman of the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, today released a statement in response to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed determination that the current GHG standards for light duty vehicles in model year 2022-2025 are “effective” and “appropriate.”
“I’m not surprised that the Obama EPA would propose such a self-serving determination regarding their actions related to the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standard program,” Inhofe said. “This has become another administrative avenue for President Obama to force his climate ideologies on American businesses and consumers that undermines global competiveness and will hurt the country’s long-term economic potential. Further, the EPA’s unilateral announcement flies in the face of the supposed coordination between the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the auto-manufacturing industry. The CAFE program is broken and rife with inequalities that warrant a substantive review by Congress. I look forward to working in the next congress with the new administration to pare back all of the legacy saving regulatory actions this administration will continue to advance as their January 20th deadline approaches. “
Background
On June 19 2015, Inhofe released a statement on EPA’s proposed GHG standard for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles.
On Dec. 12, 2014, the FY’15 NDAA passed Congress and included a provision authored by Inhofe and former-Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) to incentivize the production of NGVs. The law allows automakers to earn credits for compliance with the CAFE program by producing alternative fuel dual-fueled vehicles, and are subject to a cap. Prior to the Inhofe-Levin provision, automakers earned the majority of their allowed credits by producing E85 Flex-Fuel vehicles, leaving none left for NGVs. Their provision modified the program by removing the credit cap for natural gas dual-fueled vehicles.
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