The Regulatory Rollback Carmakers Thought They Wanted

Since his inauguration, President Donald Trump has been talking about boosting America's automobile industry. Specifically, he wants to roll back the stricter standards for carbon dioxide emissions that were placed on cars by the Obama Administration in 2010. 

The auto industry has been griping about the so-called CAFE standards ever since.

Last year, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, an industry group, wrote a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency which read “even under the EPA’s optimistic estimates, the automotive industry will have to spend a staggering $200 billion between 2012 and 2025 to comply.”

Now, the Trump administration is preparing to take the first steps to undo the stricter efficiency rules. Bloomberg News says that if Trump's proposal takes hold, “it could be his biggest regulatory rollback yet."

So why aren't carmakers celebrating, and what does this mean for drivers?

This week on Money Talking, Ilya Marritz talks to two journalists covering the transportation and policy: Maxine Joselow, reporter at E&E News, and Ryan Beene, auto regulations and policy reporter at Bloomberg News. 

The Trump administration is expected to announce a dramatic rollback of fuel economy standards for vehicles. What does it mean for carbon emissions, and why are automakers anxious?