Environmental standards: in the United States, Joe Biden is backtracking
The new president of the United States has chosen, unsurprisingly, to return to the standards of the Obama era in terms of the environment. This is good news for the states that were angry with Donald T...
02/01/2023
The new president of the United States has chosen, unsurprisingly, to return to the standards of the Obama era in terms of the environment. This is good news for the states that had become angry with Donald Trump and had decided to set up their own standards.
California and twenty other states had hit the mark by deciding to counter the easing of the Trump administration with the easing of environmental standards. These States, often Democrats, had chosen to rely on the stricter standards of the Obama era, telling themselves that this would provide a framework for manufacturers that would be more sustainable than standards that were too light and likely to change in the short term.
Bingo, since with the election of Joe Biden, the American government is taking a step back. Upon his inauguration, the new president planned to order the various federal regulatory authorities to "review" the rules on public health and the environment.
Whoever clearly opposes Donald Trump on this point will probably revise the average fuel consumption target for the fleet of new vehicles from 2025, which was 5.04 l/100 km but which had risen to 5.82 l/100 km under the Trump administration.
Joe Biden, who will also block the huge Keystone XL pipeline project (from Canada), will probably try to get the more restrictive 5 l/100 km target back in place. Good news for manufacturers who have already made large investments to "green" their catalog, but bad news for those who thought they could do without any form of electrification for a long time yet.