Trump Expected To Relax Vehicle Mileage Standards

WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump is expected to relax ambitious Obama-era vehicle mileage standards and raise the ceiling on damaging fossil fuel emissions for years to come. The rule expected to be announced Tuesday would gut one of the nation’s single-biggest efforts against climate change. A leaked version of the final rule shows the administration watering down an Obama mileage standard that would have encouraged automakers globally to ramp up production of electric vehicles and more fuel-efficient gasoline vehicles. The administration says the looser mileage standards will allow consumers to keep buying the less fuel-efficient SUVs that U.S. drivers have favored for years. Opponents say it will kill several hundred more Americans a year through dirtier air.