--- title: Automakers Fear a Battle Over Trump Emissions Standards description: Automakers are concerned the administration may go too far and create a battle between blue states and the administration over auto rules canonical: https://time.com/5225317/vehicle-emissions-standards-pruitt-trump/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-04-02T23:03:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:53:30.133Z article:section: Politics og:title: Carmakers Regret Asking Trump for Looser Emissions Standards og:description: Automakers are concerned the administration may go too far and create a battle between blue states and the administration over auto rules og:url: https://time.com/5225317/vehicle-emissions-standards-pruitt-trump/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7b82b8793ebdc932/69892ca9bc6cfcc1743e58c2/donald-trump-automakers-scott-pruitt-epa.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4424 og:image:height: 2489 og:image:alt: donald trump automakers scott pruitt epa og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Carmakers Regret Asking Trump for Looser Emissions Standards twitter:description: Automakers are concerned the administration may go too far and create a battle between blue states and the administration over auto rules twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7b82b8793ebdc932/69892ca9bc6cfcc1743e58c2/donald-trump-automakers-scott-pruitt-epa.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Carmakers Wanted President Trump to Ease Emission Standards. Now They're Afraid He'll Go Too Far > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. Senior correspondent Philip Elliott brings sharp context to the issues driving the capital, connecting the decisions made in Washington to the institutions, industries and people they affect. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Scott Pruitt's EPA [Watch (HLS stream): Scott Pruitt's EPA](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/kwozIrQS.m3u8) (3:14)  _Published 2017-10-26. TIME's Justin Worland sits down with Scott Pruitt of the EPA_  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Apr 2, 2018 11:03 PM UTC  President Donald Trump delivers remarks at an auto manufacturing hub, the American Center for Mobility in Michigan on March 15 President Donald Trump delivers remarks at an auto manufacturing hub, the American Center for Mobility in Michigan on March 15 Nicholas Kamm—AFP/Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Apr 2, 2018 11:03 PM UTC Just weeks after President Trump took office, auto executives came to him with a plea: revisit Obama-era rules that require U.S. carmakers to make cleaner vehicles, or risk losing American jobs. On Monday, Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency fulfilled the request, issuing [an official determination](https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/epa-to-roll-back-car-emissions-standards/2018/04/02/b720f0b6-36a6-11e8-acd5-35eac230e514%5Fstory.html?utm%5Fterm=.edf6d90fec06) from [EPA boss Scott Pruitt](http://time.com/4998279/company-man-in-washington/) that the U.S.’s vehicle emissions standards—a key part of Obama’s program to [fight climate change](http://time.com/4129065/cop-21-paris-obama/)—”didn’t comport with reality.” But now, automakers appear to worry the administration may be going too far. The EPA’s determination, they suggest, may lead to a protracted battle between blue states and the administration that leaves carmakers without a clear set of rules. At the heart of the matter is whether California—and 13 states that follow its lead—can set tougher vehicle emissions standards than the national requirements. Set in 2012, the national standards would have required automakers to reach an average fuel economy of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025, thereby preventing 6 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions and saving 12 billion barrels of oil. The coalition of states led by California, which had sought more stringent standards, agreed to set its requirements at the same levels. But if the Trump administration rolls back the Obama-era national standards, it would create dueling benchmarks, leading to massive market uncertainty and potentially driving up the price of owning a car. “We support increasing clean car standards through 2025 and are not asking for a rollback,” said Bill Ford, executive chairman of the Ford Motor Company, and Jim Hackett, the company’s CEO, in a blog post last week. “We want one set of standards nationally, along with additional flexibly to help us provide more affordable options for our customers.” Pruitt hinted Monday that California will need to come aboard the federal standard at the level set by the Trump administration. That would require negotiations between the federal government—namely, the EPA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)—and California to come up with a standard both sides will accept. If negotiations fail, the EPA might try to revoke the state’s authority to craft its own emissions rules. “Cooperative federalism doesn’t mean that one state can dictate standards for the rest of the country,” Pruitt said in a press release Monday. Revoking California’s waiver that allows it to set its own standards would prompt a protracted battle in uncharted legal territory. The Clean Air Act gives the EPA authority to grant waivers, but the law is unclear about how they might be revoked. California’s attorney general [said in a statement](https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-becerra-epa%E2%80%99s-assault-federal-greenhouse-gas-emission-standards) that his office is reviewing the EPA decision and is ready to take legal action. The uncertainty of a long legal battle would create a compliance nightmare for automakers, with even medium-term emissions regulations up in the air. The Auto Alliance, a trade group that represents U.S. automakers, praised the decision to revisit the standards in a [statement](https://autoalliance.org/2018/04/02/auto-alliance-statement-response-epas-announcement-midterm-review-fuel-economy-ghg-program/) but urged the Trump administration to strike a deal with California. “Maintaining a single national program is critical to ensuring that cars remain affordable,” the group said in a statement. Pruitt justified the rollback, saying that his predecessors set unrealistically aggressive standards. But the move also fits with the Trump administration’s broader stance on global warming. Trump has sought to pare back environmental regulation with an especially aggressive target on climate change rules. In that vein, Pruitt has targeted the [Clean Power Plan](http://time.com/3981535/white-house-clean-power-plan/), an Obama-era rule designed to reduce emissions in the power sector, as well as a rule targeting methane emissions, among others. Officials across the administration often demur when asked about the science of climate change. Automakers disagree. The Auto Alliance posted a [fact sheet](https://autoalliance.org/2018/04/02/facts-progress-auto-co2-reductions-2/) following the EPA announcement highlighting the work car companies have made reducing emissions and arguing that progress in the sector remains in line with the goals of the 2015 [Paris Agreement](http://time.com/4146764/paris-agreement-climate-cop-21/), a global deal targeting climate change. Ford touted a recent investment of $11 billion into hybrid and electric vehicles. “Our planet faces increasing challenges, the implications of which are profound,” Ford and Hackett wrote. “The cost of believing it is not real is just too high.” ## Transcript My personal opinion is immaterial. Really? To the job of- You are gonna be the head of the agency to protect the environment and your personal feelings about whether climate change is caused by human activity and carbon emissions is immaterial? [ APPLAUSE ] [ MUSIC ] Science tells us that the climate is changing. And that human activity in some manner impacts that change. The ability to measure, with precision to degree and the extent of that impact, and what to do about it, are subject to continuing debate and dialogue, and well it should be. Part of what I did initially, coming into this position Was advanced [ UNKNOWN ] the basics agenda. Getting back to the core basic missions of the agency to really focus on a very constructive, tangible outcomes with respect to how we're improving the environment. You know the EPA should pass rules that are within the framework the Congress has established. That sounds pretty novel, but that's exactly what should occur. We shouldn't re- imagine our authority. To pick winners and losers. Our job is to enforce the law and so when a statue is passed by Congress, whether it's a clean air act or [ UNKNOWN ] or clean water act, our job is to administer that statue pursuant to the responsibilities and obligations and authority that Congress has given us. What's happened the last several years, Is this agency among others? but this agency particularly has taken a statute and really stretched them so far. That the courts are that step in and say you don't have authority or didn't have authority to do that. [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] I think what the American people deserve is a open, honest, transparent discussion about what do we know or what don't we know with respect to CO2. You're welcome to the EPA, perhaps some of you this is your first visit to the EPA, its good to see co- monitors here at the EPA. The President, by his signature today, is rejecting the narrative that this country cannot be both pro- energy and pro- environment. So when environmental groups say you spend most of your time meeting with quote unquote polluters. Your response it seems might be something- I don't spend any time with polluters. Right. I prosecute polluters. Right. What I'm spending time with are stakeholders that care about outcomes. When you ask about the groups we've met with, those farmers and ranchers in Iowa or North Dakota or other parts, are they less of a conservation and environmentalist because they're not a part of some association? I mean they're our first environmentalist. Their greatest asset is their land. I think it's very important to help real orient thinking. To help us as a country understand that environmental stewardship should be our objective, should be our goal. Environmental protection is not to put up a fence, to say that we can feed the world or not, whether we can power the world or not. It's to use the natural resources that we've been blessed with as a country to help feed the world, power the world, but also do it in a way that is environmentally conscious and sensitive to future generations. So that's kind of a re- orientation of thinking, an attitude if you will along with specific focal points of measurements in each of these areas of air, land and water. 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