WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), senior member of the Environment and Public Works (EPW) committee, today released a statement following President Donald Trump’s executive action directing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to reconsider its recent conclusion that automakers are able to reach aggressive and costly fuel efficiency standards by 2025.

“There are serious problems with the current regulatory regime affecting the auto industry. DOT’s CAFE standards and EPA’s tailpipe regime are on an unrealistic path; as of now, it is impossible for the industry to be in full compliance. Today’s actions by the President ensure that EPA will participate in the midterm review of the CAFE standards with DOT as promised by the previous administration to automakers. Had the President not taken this action, EPA’s plans would have resulted in over a million manufacturing jobs lost, and significantly hurt the five oil refineries in Oklahoma by forcing consumers to purchase vehicles they do not want. I appreciate that President Trump is taking this first step in rolling back the red tape that is hindering American innovation and economic growth in this important manufacturing sector. I look forward to working with my friends Scott Pruitt at EPA and Elaine Chao at DOT to provide real relief to the automobile manufacturing industry.”

Blake Barfield, director of government affairs at HollyFrontier, which employees 650 Tulsans at their local refinery, also praised the executive action:

“As a fuels manufacturer operating in the Midwest and Rocky Mountain states, HollyFrontier applauds today’s announcement to review the vehicle fuel efficiency rules. We have unique perspective into strong demand for liquid fuels that provide mobility for consumers and help make modern life possible. Evaluating CAFE standard feasibility enables the balancing of earlier goals with ever changing consumer preferences.”

 Background

• Prior to 2012, three different entities—the EPA, DOT and the state of California—were setting different fuel economy standards, causing automakers significant problems. While the Obama administration worked with automakers to resolve this problem, automakers agreed to strict standards under the condition these standards would be reevaluated in 2018 and that the government would take into consideration whether automakers would be able to meet such standards.   
• The outgoing Obama administration rushed through this midterm evaluation far ahead of schedule and without the cooperation of automakers, finalizing the standard a week before Trump took office.
• During EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s confirmation hearing, Inhofe asked if he would direct the EPA to reevaluate this standard and he agreed he would.