EPA to keep strict gas-mileage standards in place

DETROIT -- The Obama administration has decided not to change government fuel economy requirements for cars and light trucks, despite protests from automakers.

Environmental Protection Agency administrator Gina McCarthy said based on the agency's technical analysis, automakers can meet emissions standards and fuel-economy requirements for model years 2022 to 2025.

The standards will nearly double new-car gas mileage, cut carbon pollution, maintain regulatory certainty for the auto industry and save U.S. drivers billions in fuel costs, the EPA said in a statement Wednesday.

The decision means automakers still will have to meet strict fuel-economy requirements, and companies likely will continue building small cars and electric vehicles even though people are buying more SUVs and trucks.

The standards had required the fleet of new cars to average 54.5 miles per gallon. But there was a built-in reduction if buying habits changed, dropping the number to 50.8.

"Although EPA's technical analysis indicates that the standards could be strengthened for model years 2022 to 2025, proposing to leave the current standards in place provides greater certainty to the auto industry for product planning and engineering. This will enable long-term planning in the auto industry, while also benefiting consumers and the environment," McCarthy said in the statement.

The EPA will take public comments on the decision until Dec. 30.

Dan Becker, director of the Safe Climate Campaign environmental group, said the agency plans to finalize the decision before President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated in January.

It's uncertain what the Trump administration will do with the requirements.

Trump has stated he wants to end some government regulations and has said in the past he wants to get rid of the EPA.

Leading Trump's transition team on the EPA is Myron Ebell, director of the Center for Energy and Environment at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a libertarian think tank that gets financial support from the fossil-fuel industry.

Though his academic credentials are in philosophy and political theory, Ebell is an enthusiastic denier of the voluminous scientific data that show the planet is warming and burning fossil fuels is primarily to blame.