EPA challenged rationale for administration mileage freeze
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Traffic heads eastbound on Route 50 in Bowie, Md., in 2015. Internal documents show the Environmental Protection Agency privately questioned the Trump administration’s finding that freezing Obama-era mileage standards would make drivers safer. In announcing the mileage proposal, the administration said the freeze would save 1,000 lives a year.
WASHINGTON >> Internal documents show the Environmental Protection Agency privately questioned the Trump administration’s finding that freezing Obama-era mileage standards would make drivers safer.
In announcing the mileage proposal, the administration said the freeze would save 1,000 lives a year. But in a June email, the EPA told the Department of Transportation that it would slightly increase highway deaths.
EPA spokesman John Konkus says the new documents made public today were just a small part of administration discussions on the mileage proposals.
The Trump administration has proposed freezing mileage standards after 2020. The tougher Obama-era mileage rules were meant to reduce pollution and climate-changing emissions.
